Russia's oil and gas revenues have increased significantly. Putin is rubbing his hands before the elections
Russia's oil and gas revenues increased by more than 80 percent last month. compared to the previous year. These funds are used not only to finance the war, but also to Vladimir Putin's pre-election promises.
According to data published by the Russian Ministry of Finance, in February this year Russia achieved 945.6 billion rubles ($10 billion) in oil and gas revenues. For comparison, in February last year this amount was 521.2 billion rubles. This means that Moscow's oil and gas revenues increased by more than 80 percent in the previous month. compared to the previous year.
Russia's oil and gas revenues have increased significantly
The data cited by Business Insider are striking considering the fact that Russia has been facing sanctions imposed by the West in connection with the Kremlin's attack on Ukraine for over two years.
Business Insider points out that Russia obtained additional revenues in February as a result of higher taxes imposed on domestic oil producers. Moscow already had a mechanism that allowed it to impose a higher tax rate on oil producers, but it has not used it so far.
At the beginning of the year, Russia launched a minimum price threshold mechanism for oil sales. This decision followed a decline in prices of Russia's flagship Ural crude oil due to tightening sanctions by the West.
Russia's oil revenues are used not only to finance the war, but also for social spending that is intended to ensure Vladimir Putin's success in the upcoming presidential elections.
Let us recall that elections in Russia are scheduled for March 15-17. Putin, who has been in office since 2000 (with a break in 2008-2012, when he served as prime minister), will run for a fifth term as president. He will face three rival candidates.
Meanwhile, according to the findings of the Global Witness organization, despite the adoption of thirteen sanctions packages, the European Union continues to provide profits to the Kremlin by purchasing petroleum products from Russian oil. According to Polish Radio, last year the EU imported 130 million barrels of diesel oil from refineries processing Russian oil, generating a profit of EUR 1.1 billion for Moscow. Even after the introduction of the sixth sanctions package, which bans the import of Russian oil and fuels by sea, Russian oil continues to enter the European market. This mechanism involves importing fuel from third countries that use Russian oil, increasing demand for the raw material in countries such as India and Turkey. The final products enter the EU, UK and US markets legally, with indications of origin from India or Turkey.
