OREANDA-NEWS. Pavel Zavalny, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Energy, said that foreign banks have lately been delaying payments for oil and gas to the Russian side, fearing sanctions. According to him, quoted by NEWS.ru, Russia may stop deliveries in case of continued delays and impose penalties on buyers.

We will not supply oil and gas for free. We will wait a week or two or three, and within the framework of contractual obligations <...> we will stop these deliveries to those buyers who do not pay us, - the deputy emphasized.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced failures in paying for Russian energy supplies abroad during a meeting on the situation in the oil and gas sector. According to him, the transfer of payments is delayed by banks from "unfriendly" countries, which, moreover, are not ready to transfer payments for energy resources to the national currency with a gradual departure from the dollar and the euro. Prior to this, the authorities of a number of European powers stated that they did not intend to pay for fuel in rubles, since this would be a violation of existing contracts. In addition, the EU said that this is contrary to the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Director of the Energy Development Fund Sergei Pikin said earlier that the countries of Europe, which now refuse to pay for gas in rubles, will agree to this condition by the summer of 2022. According to him, the EU has no alternative to Russian fuel.