German Uniper (UN01.DE) will now send payments for Russian gas to a Russian bank rather than a European bank, according to the Rheinische Post on Thursday.

"The plan is to make our payments in euros to an account in Russia," the daily paper cited a Uniper spokesperson as saying.

Although Russia has sought ruble payments for its gas, the proposed payment system calls for the usage of accounts at Gazprombank, which would convert payments made in euros or dollars into rubles.

This provides some leeway for some countries to continue buying Russian gas in exchange for Western currencies.

The European Commission stated last week that if buyers of Russian gas certified payments were complete when they deposited euros rather than later when the euros were converted to rubles, sanctions would not be violated.

Uniper, Germany's main importer of Russian gas, said on Wednesday that despite a suspension in shipments to Poland and Bulgaria, it considered Russian gas flows into Germany secure for the time being because transit volumes heading elsewhere would be unaffected.

Gazprom (GAZP.MM) of Russia previously said it had cut gas shipments to Poland and Bulgaria in its harshest retaliation to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its operation in Ukraine.

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