Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on the 19th that about half of the 54 enterprises that have signed gas supply contracts with Gazprom (Gazprom) have opened payment accounts in Russian currency rubles. "The payment deadline is coming... The situation is that some large enterprises have opened accounts and paid (gas bills) or are ready to pay on time. In the next few days, we will know who pays in rubles and who refuses to pay," Novak said in a forum Since the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on February 24, the United States and the European Union have imposed a number of economic sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin then signed a presidential decree on the settlement of natural gas trade with "unfriendly" countries and regions in rubles on March 31. According to this order, customers from "unfriendly" countries and regions must open a foreign currency account and a ruble account in the Russian bank, and European customers should complete the currency conversion within 48 hours before payment. The new regulations apply from the time the customer pays the gas supply fee in April. Before that, almost all customers of Gazprom in the EU region settled in euros or dollars. Gazprom announced on April 27 that it would stop supplying gas to Poland and Bulgaria because they refused to settle in rubles. Thus, the two countries became the first European countries to stop gas after the "ruble settlement order" came into force. From May 20, many European energy enterprises will meet the deadline to pay the Russian gas supply fee in April. In recent days, several major energy enterprises in Europe are stepping up the payment of fees to Russia in rubles. Italian Eni said it had opened an account in a Russian bank. Uniper, Germany's largest importer of Russian natural gas, said it was remitting euros to Russian bank accounts. France Angie group said it would complete the payment by the end of the month. Kasum, a Finnish energy supplier, said it did not intend to comply with the ruble settlement order and would resort to arbitration this week. According to Reuters, the EU's guidance to Member States on how to comply with the sanctions against Russia did not clearly indicate whether the opening of ruble accounts in Russia violated the sanctions measures. If a country's enterprises violate the sanctions, the EU's accountability object is the country's government. A source previously said that according to the ruble settlement order, the transaction between the two sides will be concluded after Gazprom customers pay foreign currency to Gazprom. Next, the bank automatically changed these foreign currencies into rubles, and this process did not go through the Central Bank of Russia, so it did not violate the relevant EU sanctions against Russia. About 40% of the natural gas used by the EU is imported from Russia. The EU previously announced that it plans to reduce its demand for Russian natural gas by two-thirds this year. (Xinhua News Agency)