2023-11-29 22:27:21
Igor Sechin, the head of Russian energy giant Rosneft, criticized the country’s central bank on Wednesday for what he called a “failure” in setting up a cross-border payment mechanism.
Mr. Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement that pressure from sanctions since the Ukraine conflict was piling up on the company as new restrictions were introduced.
“In the context of tightening sanctions, the Bank of Russia has not yet created a reliable means of executing cross-border payments in different currencies, which prevents the timely deposit of export proceeds,” Ms. .Sechin.
Sechin made the comments as Rosneft reported higher profits thanks to tight cost controls. Its nine-month net income rose 76.2% year-on-year to 1.1 trillion rubles ($12.40 billion), while its January-September sales fell 8.2% from by the same period in 2022, to reach 6.6 trillion rubles.
Oil and gas condensate production increased 3.9% during the period to 4 million barrels per day, the company said.
Russian oil producers have faced harsh Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. They found ways to set up new transportation and logistics sales and diverted oil sales to China and India, away from traditional sales markets in Europe.
One of Russia’s most lucrative oil trade routes, to India, is facing a major challenge since Western sanctions due to the inconvenience of paying in a currency other than the dollar, with no solution to short term is in sight.
Mr. Sechin also said that the Russian central bank’s high interest rates, which it raised to 15% last month, “negatively affect the cost of financing for the company, its suppliers and contractors, which which leads to an increase in project costs and delivery times.
($1 = 88.6955 rubles) (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by Chris Reese and Josie Kao)
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