The negotiations are in the early stages, the Economic Times cited sources familiar with the matter as saying. Asif Iqbad, from the Indian non-government trade facilitator IETO, said that GAIL and Gazprom were discussing routing payments through Singapore.
Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore signed a 20-year deal with GAIL in 2012 to supply 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per year. The news outlet said Russia had defaulted on eight of the minimum 36 LNG shiploads scheduled for 2022 due to Western sanctions, forcing GAIL to slash supplies to client.
India and Russia are reportedly considering recognizing each other’s national payments systems — India's RuPay and Russia's Mir — which will boost bilateral trade. Russia may also want India to pay for gas in euros, the outlet suggested.