(Reuters) – The Russian rouble briefly jumped to a 3-week high above 95 against the US on Wednesday in Moscow before settling near 100 after President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia will begin selling gas to “unfriendly” countries in roubles.

Putin instructed his government to make that decision in one week. This could have potential implications for Russia’s currency. Many European countries are still heavily dependent upon Moscow for their energy supply.

At 1313 GMT the rouble was 3.4% more expensive than the dollar at 100.02 (previously slipping 94.9875), its strongest performance since March 2. The rouble had gained 3.5% and traded at 110.50 against the euro.

Recent sessions saw the rouble stabilize near 105 dollars to the dollar after it fell to a new record low of 120 Moscow, this month. The interbank market also brought the price down to 150.

Russia was hit hard by unprecedented Western sanctions on Ukraine. It refers to the “special operation” that began Feb. 24, 2014.

An earlier time, the rouble had been traded at approximately 80 to one dollar.

This week saw trading of OFZ bonds return to normal. On March 24, the Bank of Russia said that stock market trading would resume after a monthlong hiatus. 33 securities have been added into the benchmark IMOEX index and will be available on the Moscow Exchange.

COUPON PAYMENT

Russia seemed to have avoided defaulting on its foreign debts by paying a coupon on a sovereign Eurobond maturing in 2029 in U.S. Dollars. One bondholder stated that payment received.

Russian corporate Eurobond holders may experience delays when receiving international payments, due to sanctions.

As the central bank sold $0.7 billion ($0.8 trillion) of rouble liquidity at its one-day “fine tuning” repo auction, demand for it has dropped.

Veles Capital brokerage reported that demand at overnight repo auctions has fallen fast. It explained in a note that banks have experienced a drop in liquidity since June 2013. However, the lenders are still repaying repo loans to the central banking.

OFZ BONDS STEADY

The OFZ bond market was open for trading until the third day following its closure in late February.

After a late February rate increase that led to volatility and prompted by an emergency rate rise, the central bank announced last week it will begin purchasing OFZ bonds in order to reduce volatility.

The OFZ market intervention by the central bank that stabilized prices and added liquidity to the financial sector has not been disclosed.

After hitting an all-time high of 19.74% Monday, the benchmark OFZ 10-year bonds yielded 13.90% Wednesday. ($1 = 103.9070 roubles)