On 31 March, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that would obligate purchasers of Russian gas from the "unfriendly countries" to set up special "K-accounts" to transfer their payments, the entire payment facility to be run by Russia's Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Gazprom. He said that any country refusing to use the payment mechanism would be in violation of their contracts and face "corresponding repercussions".[13]