Russia earned 93 billion euros in fossil fuel export revenues in the first 100 days of its war against Ukraine, most of it going to the EU, research center report says independent published on Monday, and which particularly pinpoints France.
A progressive embargo
This publication from the Center for research on energy and clean Air (CREA), based in Finland, comes as Ukraine urges Westerners to cut off all trade with Russia to stop feeding the Kremlin’s war chest.
The European Union recently decided on a progressive embargo, with exceptions, on its oil imports. Russian gas, on which it is very dependent, is not currently concerned.
A drop in exports in May
According to the CREA, the EU accounted for 61% of fossil imports, or approximately 57 billion euros, over the first 100 days of the war (February 24 – June 3). The biggest importers were China (12.6 billion euros), Germany (12.1 billion) and Italy (7.8 billion).
Russia’s revenues come first from the sale of crude oil (46 billion), followed by gas transported by gas pipelines (24 billion), then petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and finally coal.
The manna has not dried up, even if exports fell in May and Russia is forced to sell at rock bottom prices on international markets. Despite this rebate, the country still benefited from the global rise in energy prices.
Efforts by some countries
While some countries have made significant efforts to reduce their imports (Poland, Finland, Baltic States), others have on the contrary increased their purchases: China, India, United Arab Emirates or… France, according to the CREA.
“While the EU is considering stricter sanctions against Russia, France has increased its imports, to become the largest buyer of Russian LNG in the world”, underlines Lauri Myllyvirta, analyst of the CREA.
These are also cash purchases and not under long-term contracts, which means that France knowingly decided to use Russian energy despite the invasion of Ukraine, estimates the specialist.