Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said the world’s largest natural gas producer would soon require “unfriendly” countries to pay for their fuel in Russia’s currency, the rouble. The requirement raised new hurdles for the mostly European gas purchasers that buy Russian gas. Europe gets about 40% of its gas from Russia, paying largely the 200 million to 800 million euro ($880 million) per day bill in euros and dollars. Putin gave the Russian central bank and government officials one week to come up with a way to shift payment to the Russian currency. State gas company Gazprom also was ordered to revise its contracts to accommodate the move. WHAT IS BEHIND THE CHANGE? The European Union is considering sanctions and the […]