Russia earned a record 93 billion euros in oil, gas and coal exports in the first 100 days of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, according to data from the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research. organization based in Helsinki, Finland. About two-thirds of those profits, equivalent to about $ 97 billion, came from oil and most of the rest from gas. “The current revenue rate is unprecedented because prices are unprecedented and export volumes are approaching the highest levels ever recorded,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst who led the center’s research. Fossil fuel exports have been a key factor in Russia’s military build-up. In 2021, revenues from oil and gas alone accounted for 45% of Russia’s federal budget, according to the International Energy Agency. Revenue from Russia’s fossil fuel exports exceeds what the country spends on its war in Ukraine, the research center estimates. Ukrainian officials have again called on countries and companies to suspend all trade with Russia. “We ask the people to do everything possible to cut off Putin and his war machine from any possible funding, but it is taking too long,” said Oleg Ustenko, a financial adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. interview from Kyiv.
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Ukraine also monitors Russia’s exports, and Mr. Ustenko described the research center’s figures as conservative. However, the underlying finding was the same, he said: Fossil fuels continue to fund Russia’s war. “You can stop importing Russian caviar and Russian vodka, and that’s good, but definitely not enough. “You have to stop importing Russian oil,” he said. Although Russia’s fossil fuel exports have begun to decline somewhat in volume as more countries and companies avoid trade with Moscow, rising prices have almost offset the effects of this decline. The survey found that Russia’s export prices for fossil fuels were on average about 60 percent higher than last year, even due to the fact that Russian oil is about 30 percent below world market prices. Europe, in particular, has struggled to wean itself off Russian energy, even as many countries send military aid to Ukraine. The European Union has made the most progress in reducing gas imports from Russia, buying 23 percent less in the first 100 days of the invasion than in the same period last year. However, revenues at Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas giant, remained about twice as high as last year, thanks to higher gas prices, according to the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research. The European Union also cut imports of Russian crude oil, which fell 18% in May. However, this decline was covered by India and the United Arab Emirates, resulting in no clear change in Russia’s oil export volumes, the survey showed. India has become a major importer of Russian crude oil, buying 18 percent of the country’s exports over the 100-day period. The United States has cut Russia’s profits by banning all Russian imports of fossil fuels. However, the United States imports oil refining products from countries such as the Netherlands and India that most likely contain Russian crude, a window for oil from Russia to reach the United States. Overall, China was the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels in the 100-day period, surpassing Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. China imported most of the oil. Japan was the largest buyer of Russian coal. Stricter bans are coming. Late last month, the EU agreed to an embargo that would cover about three-quarters of Russian oil shipped to the region, though that would not be implemented for six months. Britain has said it will also phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year. However, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which receive Russian oil through pipelines, are still excluded. Ships from Europe and the United States also continue to carry Russian oil. Europe is also accelerating its transition completely away from fossil fuels. A new EU target aims to increase the region’s share of renewable energy to 63% by 2030, from the previously expected target of 55%. Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, said last week that Washington was in talks with its European allies to set up a cartel that would raise the price of Russian oil to about the price of production. This would limit Russia’s fossil fuel revenues while keeping Russian oil flowing to world markets, stabilizing prices and preventing a global recession, he told the Senate Finance Committee. Mr Ustenko, Ukraine’s financial aide, said he would welcome such a move as a temporary measure until a full embargo was imposed. He also suggested that countries should take the difference between world prices and the peak price of Russian oil and pay it to a fund to help rebuild Ukraine. “Then we will be able to cut off the Russians from much of their funding, and almost immediately,” he said.
