Gazprom Neft switched from the U.S. dollar to yuan in settlements for fuelling planes in China

Beijing, February 15 - Neftegaz.RU. Gazpromneft-Aero, the aviation fuel operator of Gazprom Neft, increased the total volume of refueling of Russian-Chinese flights at Russian and Chinese airports to 115,000 tons in 2021.

Its jet fuel business development strategy targets a further increase in fuel sales on Russian-Chinese routes to more than 200,000 tons by 2025 on condition passenger traffic between the countries continues to recover.

Russian oil firms have sought for years to shift away from U.S. dollar payments for deliveries, while China intends to make the yuan a more widely used currency internationally.

Gazpromneft-Aero is the 1^st Russian company to provide all settlements for refueling airlines in national currencies in China and explores to switch payments for refueling Chinese airlines’ aircraft in Russian airports to rubles by the end of 2022.

Currently Gazpromneft-Aero with China’s national supplier of aviation fuel provide refueling for 20 airlines including Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, Volga-Dnepr, and other carriers at 36 Chinese airports.

Alexei Yankevich, Member of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft, said:

• The Asia-Pacific market is one of our most important sales regions for high-tech Gazprom Neft products
• The company is now supplying Russian-made bitumens and automotive and industrial lubricants to Asian-Pacific countries, including to China, as well as undertaking ‘wing-tip’ refuelling
• Moves towards mutual settlements in the national currency at major airports in China will not only strengthen cooperation with our partners here, but will also further increase efficiency in financial transactions

Gazprom Neft and the Chinese operator plan to double total volumes of aircraft fueling both in Russia and China to 250,000 tons by 2025.