(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 23 - Italy should reject Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand that Europe pay for Russian gas in rubles and not euros, Premier Mario Draghi's economic advisor Francesco Giavazzi said Wednesday.
    He told a Bloomberg forum that the government has not taken any decision on the demand, mad earlier Wednesday, "but my opinion is that paying in rubles would be a way of getting round the sanctions (for the Ukraine war), and so I think we will continue to pay in euros".
    Giavazzi said that stopping imports of Russian gas was a "hypothesis" to be weighed.
    Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said businesses would be unable to survive with gas prices that have risen ten-fold in two years.
    He said the strong coordination in the West's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine had been "the only way to respond to this terrible shock".
    Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said the "battle" at this week's EU summit would be to set a price cap on energy, which costs 10 times more in Italy than in the US an is also much cheaper in many other EU member states. (ANSA).