Trade deal with China in Russia, exchange between Beijing and Moscow despite Western sanctions Russian energy giant Gazprom said it has signed a deal with China to start paying for gas supplies to China in yuan and rubles instead of US dollars.

“The new payment mechanism is a mutually beneficial, reliable and effective solution,” Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said after a video conference with Dai Houliang, head of China’s oil group CNPC.

That would “simplify the calculations” and “set a good example for other companies,” Miller said

Gazprom said in a statement that it will run the supply through the “Eastern Route – Power of Siberia”, a gas pipeline that connects Russian and Chinese gas networks.

Gazprom did not elaborate on the scheme and did not make a clear statement on when payments would switch from dollars to rubles and yuan.

The initiative is aimed at reducing Russia’s reliance on the US dollar, euro and other hard currencies, as a result of Western sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine.

Recently, Asian countries such as Russia, China and other non-Western countries have noticed initiatives to develop closer economic ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, through Gazprombank, forced European customers earlier in the year to pay in rubles in the Russian currency if they wanted to buy Russian gas.
Signed about $37.5 billion in extension contracts. The deal was signed to supply gas to China on the eve of the Russian invasion.

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The 3,000-km (1,865-mile) Power through Siberia Gas Pipeline will start pumping gas into China in late 2019. Putin called the move “a truly historic event, not only for the global energy market, but above all for us, for trade between Russia and China.”