Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a commentary by Alexander Firanchuk, Senior Researcher at International Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute, on the impact of sanctions on Russian oil exports. The expert noted that despite attempts by Western countries to restrict sales of Russian raw materials, maritime deliveries reached a 16-month high.
"Sanctions against tankers have an extremely limited effect on export revenues. A significant portion of ships continue to openly transport Russian oil. Sanctions make transportation more expensive and less convenient, but they do not block the ability to operate ships. By the fourth year of the confrontation, the mechanisms for working with such tankers are already well established. Secondly, the price cap is effectively ignored by the largest buyers: for example, the average price of Russian oil imports by China has never fallen below the set “cap,” said Alexander Firanchuk.
According to the expert, the closure of the European market had a significant impact on oil export revenues due to the “forced reorientation towards distant Asian destinations, which increased transport costs.”