MOSCOW, Feb 3 ― Russia's monthly budget revenues from oil and gas fell in January to their lowest level since August 2020 under the impact of Western sanctions on its most lucrative export, Finance Ministry data showed today.
Moscow relies on income from oil and gas ― last year around 11.6 trillion roubles ― to fund its budget spending, and has been forced to start selling international reserves to cover a deficit stretched by the cost of its invasion of Ukraine.The Finance Ministry today said it would almost treble its daily sales of foreign currency to 8.9 billion roubles a day over the next month to compensate for the fall in oil and gas revenues.
Brussels has blocked the seaborne imports that accounted for 90 per cent of Russian crude oil sales to the European Union, and member states have cut the share of Russian gas in their import mix from more than 40 per cent before Russia invaded Ukraine to under 15 per cent. The international restrictions, including a US$60 a barrel crude price cap imposed by the Group of Seven major powers, have meant that Russia's Urals blend ― which previously traded at a similar price to Brent ― now sells at a heavy discount.