RUSSIA: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered global condemnation and tough sanctions aimed at denting Moscow’s war chest. Yet Russia’s revenues from fossil fuels, by far its biggest export, soared to records in the first 100 days of its war on Ukraine, driven by a windfall from oil sales amid surging prices, a new analysis shows.
Russia earned what is very likely a record €93 billion (US$ 135 billion) in revenue from exports of oil, gas and coal in the first 100 days of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, according to data analysed by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a research organisation based in Helsinki. About two-thirds of those earnings came from oil, and most of the remainder from natural gas.
Fossil fuel exports have been a key enabler of Russia’s military buildup. In 2021, revenue from oil and gas alone made up 45 per cent of Russia’s federal budget, according to the International Energy Agency.
The revenue from Russia’s fossil fuel exports exceeds what the country is spending on its war in Ukraine, the research centre estimated, a sobering finding as momentum shifts in Russia’s favour as its forces focus on important regional targets amid a weapons shortage among Ukrainian soldiers.
Income at Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas giant, remained about twice as high as the year before, thanks to higher gas prices, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air found.
- THE STRAITS TIMES
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