Moscow describes the western sanctions as ineffective. In the future, Russia wants to build on other markets.
Even with an oil embargo by the EU, Russia continues to expect bubbling revenues from energy sales. After the US boycott of Russian oil, the export volumes have now been restored, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak at a political discussion forum.
In the future, the EU will have to get the oil it has bought from Russia from elsewhere, which will be more expensive overall because of the logistical effort. Russia will direct its oil to those markets from where the EU states would buy it more expensively, Nowak said.
The Moscow state leadership has repeatedly described the Western sanctions against Russia in the course of the war of aggression against Ukraine as ineffective or rather harmful for the economy in the EU and the USA. The budget of the commodity superpower, which is largely dependent on the income from the oil and gas business, is already benefiting greatly from the high energy prices.
The only effect of the sanctions was that delivery times were longer, more ships had to be shipped and transport was more expensive overall, Nowak said. “But the oil doesn’t go anywhere, it’s just tipped over like from one glass into the other.” He added: “We end up with the same result, just with the destruction of the historical connections and the associated supply chains.”
With a view to gas consumption in the EU, Nowak said that the start of operation of the completed Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline is currently out of the question. “The project is currently frozen for political reasons. But I think it will be needed in the future,” said the deputy prime minister.
Compared to other transport routes, the line through the Baltic Sea is competitive. Russia, on the other hand, had described the liquid gas from the USA as expensive and dirty.
