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MOSCOW, December 6 Oil revenues of the Russian budget, despite sanctions, exceeded $11 billion in October, which emphasizes the failure of restrictive measures, writes Bloomberg.
On Wednesday, the agency published an article entitled «How Russia Blew an $11 Billion Hole in Western Oil Sanctions.» “According to Bloomberg calculations, which are based on data from the Russian Ministry of Finance… Russia’s oil revenues of $11.3 billion in October amounted to 31% of the country’s total budget revenues for the month. This is the highest figure since May 2022,” it says in the article. It also notes that income is now greater than it was before the start of the SVO in Ukraine, and this “emphasizes the failure” of the sanctions.
According to Bloomberg, after the imposition of sanctions, Russian oil exports fell into the hands of “an army of small organizations that are harder to track,” allowing Moscow to maintain control over exports and prices. Thus, according to the agency’s calculations, the average price of a barrel of Russian oil in India, which became one of the main consumers along with China after the introduction of Western sanctions, is $72, which is $12 higher than the price ceiling set by the West.
At the same time, US President Joe Biden's energy security adviser Amos Hochstein told Bloomberg that «the US Treasury Department and others» are ready to take action if they see the need to further reduce the price ceiling for Russian oil, but the agency emphasizes that this could result in an increase in energy prices around the world, and at a time when Biden will be busy with the election campaign. As the agency notes, such measures are unlikely, and Russia still has workarounds.
Oil sanctions by Western countries against the Russian Federation came into force on December 5, 2022: the European Union stopped accepting Russian oil transported by sea, and the G7 countries, Australia and the EU introduced a price limit for oil transport by sea at $60 per barrel — it is prohibited to transport and insure more expensive oil. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin by decree prohibited, from February 1, the supply of oil to foreign parties if the contracts directly or indirectly provide for the use of a mechanism for fixing the maximum price.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people. The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that Russia will solve all the problems that the West creates for it. Moscow noted that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against the Russian Federation. In Western countries themselves, opinions have been repeatedly voiced that anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective.