In the first 100 days of the war in Ukraine, Russia earned 93 93 billion from fossil fuel exports, mainly to the European Union, according to a report released Monday by an independent think tank, particularly France.
The Kremlin lost financial support for the war against the Kremlin at a time when Ukraine was urging Western countries to suspend energy imports from Russia, according to a report by the Finnish-based Energy and Clean Air Research Center.
The European Union recently approved a gradual ban on Russian oil imports, with a few exceptions. Currently, the ban does not include allied gas.
According to the report, in the first 100 days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine between February 24 and June 3, the EU accounted for 61% or approximately 57 billion euros of Russia’s fossil energy exports.
The major importers are China (12.6 billion euros), Germany (12.1 billion) and Italy (7.6 billion).
Russia’s first source of revenue is crude oil (46 billion), followed by pipeline gas (24 billion), followed by oil derivatives, liquefied natural gas and finally coal.
Statistics show that Russia’s earnings have not stagnated despite declining exports in May, and that Russia has been forced to sell its products at discounted prices in international markets as it has benefited from higher energy prices in the world.
The Center said that despite strong efforts by Poland, Finland and the Baltic countries to reduce their imports, other countries, including China, India, the United Arab Emirates and France, have increased their purchases.
“France has increased its imports as Russia’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas in the world as the EU is considering tightening sanctions against Russia,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, a researcher at the center.
The expert explained that the purchases were made in cash and were not in the framework of long-term agreements, meaning that France deliberately decided to supply Russian power despite the Ukraine crisis.
“France’s actions must be in line with its words: if it really supports Ukraine, it must immediately ban Russian fossil energy sources and quickly develop clean energy and energy – efficient solutions,” he said.
(AFP)