Germany Rejects Putin’s Demand for Gas Payments in Rubles (1)

Companies buying Russian natural gas should not have to set up ruble accounts to pay for it, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said, pushing back against a demand made last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Contracts are contracts,” Lindner said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Washington. “Contracts are based on dollars and euros and so private-sector companies should pay in dollars or euros.”

Christian Lindner

Photographer: Liesa Koppitz-Johanssen/Bloomberg

WATCH: German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Bloomberg TV

Putin’s demand stipulates that European gas buyers open two accounts, one in a foreign currency and one in rubles. Gazprombank would then ...