Moscow: Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday his country has redirected most its oil supplies towards India and China after the West enforced economic sanctions against it over the Ukraine war.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The America-led West imposed crippling economic sanctions on the Vladimir Putin-led country. The European Union had also embargoed Russia’s seaborne oil supplies to its members.
Novak said Russia used to supply close to 45 percent of oil and oil products to Europe. The supply has come down to four-five percent this year. However, he said in a televised address, Russia has pivoted towards other buyers, including India and China.
“China — whose share (of oil exports) has grown to 45-50 percent — and India have become our main partners in the current situation,” Novak was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
He said India has become a major buyer of Russian oil since the Ukraine war.
He claimed over the past two years, “the total share of supplies to India has increased to about 40 percent.”
There had been concerns in the West about India undermining the sanctions. Earlier this year, union external affairs minister S Jaishankar defended India’s Russian imports saying India’s trade with Russia was lower than that of the European countries. “I don’t think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade,” the minister had said.
India has been buying Russian crude oil and selling the refined product to European countries. Earlier this year, Jaishankar had defended this decision. “Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council’s Regulation 833/2014,” he had said.
Novak today said Russia’s oil and gas revenue would likely remain $98 billion this year — a level similar to before the offensive in 2021.
With inputs from AFP
