By AFP 30 March 2022 | 1:17 pm The Kremlin said Wednesday Russia will not immediately require its natural gas buyers to pay in rubles after Moscow said it will now only accept payments in its national currency. FILE PHOTO: A cashier holds new 200 ruble banknotes in a bank in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov The Kremlin said Wednesday Russia will not immediately require its natural gas buyers to pay in rubles after Moscow said it will now only accept payments in its national currency. “Payments and deliveries are a time-consuming process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow will now only accept rubles as payment for natural gas deliveries to “unfriendly” countries, which include the European Union. On Thursday, the Russian government, its central bank and energy giant Gazprom are expected to present Putin with a system that will allow gas payment to be conducted in rubles. “It’s not like… what will be delivered tomorrow, must be paid for by the evening,” Peskov said. Asking about the possibility of transferring to ruble payments for other Russian exports, Peskov said this was “an idea that certainly needs to be explored”. “This is an area in which our government is also working,” Peskov added. Western countries have piled crippling sanctions on Moscow since it moved troops into Ukraine, with the United States banning the import of Russian oil and gas among other measures. However, the European Union — which received around 40 percent of its gas supplies from Russia in 2021 — has retained deliveries from Moscow. Latest 16 mins ago The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC), on Tuesday, held a MacArthur Foundation-sponsored design workshop for public sector and development stakeholders, which seeks to improve voter participation ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 elections. Held in Abuja, the workshop, tagged ‘Applying Behavioural Insights to Electoral Participation’, was a co-creation effort between the PIC and participants to understand Nigeria’s electoral… 23 mins ago A Federal High Court, Abuja, has rescheduled the judgment in a suit filed by some women groups for the Federal Government to implement the 35 per cent affirmative action. 27 mins ago More than 200 babies could have survived had they been given better care at birth, a damning report into Britain’s biggest maternity scandal said on Wednesday, prompting a government apology. 40 mins ago The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested two trucks loaded with 90,000 litres of suspected adulterated diesel. 47 mins ago Chris Rock’s brother Tony Rock has spoken up following the headline-making slap Will Smith gave his brother. Taking to Twitter, Tony defended his brother nothing that Smith’s public apology wasn’t going to cut it. No https://t.co/NZ3VAKLAKu — Tony Rock (@TONYROCK) March 30, 2022 Tony told his Twitter followers on Tuesday that he’s “waiting” for Smith…
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