Russian revenues from oil & gas sales soared in the 1st quarter, while imports plunged amid companies withdrawing from Russia over the military invasion of Ukraine.
This resulted in a major surplus in the Russian trade of goods and services.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Izvestia:
- Export inflows stayed practically the same, but imports dropped sharply because of logistics limits and restrictions imposed by Western countries
Despite the widespread condemnation of the invasion, Russia continued to sell its oil & gas to its key export markets in the 1st quarter.
Asian buyers China and India continued buying Russian oil at hefty discounts, while Europe continued buying natural gas.
Europe also continued buying Russian oil for most of Q1, although many European majors said in early March that they would not trade with spot Russian crude and oil products.
Russia expects to earn additional oil & gas revenues equivalent to $9.6 billion (RUB 798.4 billion) this month, its finance ministry said last week.
Despite the self-sanctioning of many European buyers of Russian oil, Moscow continues to export its oil, and Europe continues to pay for and import Russian gas.
On Friday, the EU said it would be imposing a ban on imports of coal and other solid fossil fuels from Russia as of August 2022 as part of the 5th round of EU sanctions.
The EU is currently discussing sanctionson Russian oil, although a consensus seems weeks away as the bloc is split over an oil embargo.
Author: Charles Kennedy
