The director of the Rosneft oil company, Igor Sechin, assured that the Western powers overestimated the effectiveness of the financial pressure they exerted against Russia and China, and caused the opposite effect: growth in both economies and trade in both countries.
During his speech at the opening of the VI Russia-China Energy Business Forum, Igor Sechin expressed that last year the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its GDP growth forecast for Russia four times, which at the end of the year exceeded initial expectations by almost 6 percentage points.
The Russian economy, he emphasized, has successfully overcome external challenges and demonstrates a high degree of adaptability in the face of unprecedented pressure from Western sanctions.
“GDP growth in the first quarter of 2024 was 5,4% year-on-year, and the industrial production index increased by 5,6%. Undoubtedly, the realignment of logistics routes to Asia-Pacific markets and the stability of oil exports have played an important role in ensuring the sustainability of the Russian economy,” Sechin said.
For Sechin, the West closely follows the successes of Russia and China and tries to slow down the development of both countries. He gave as an example the barriers imposed by the United States and the European Union on goods, equipment and components in the field of clean energy from China.
“However,” he said, “all efforts to slow down the growth of our countries lead to the opposite result. The GDP growth rates of China (5,2% in 2023) and Russia (3,6% in 2023) are well above those of Western countries and the world average.”
In the case of China, he indicated that “despite the “inevitable” slowdown of the Chinese economy repeatedly predicted by Western observers, the IMF predicts that China’s contribution to global economic growth over the next five years will be 21%, which will exceed the combined contribution of all G7 countries (20%).”
In this regard, he highlighted that the Russian economy benefited from the stability of hydrocarbon exports and the restructuring of routes to Asia-Pacific markets.
For Sechin, China’s growth goes hand in hand with the increasing need for reliable and secure energy supplies that Russia can provide.
“The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Chinese consumption of liquid hydrocarbons will increase by 9% until 2030,” he added.
The CEO of Rosneft noted that cooperation between Russia and China in the energy sector is predetermined by the geographical position of both countries and their place on the world’s energy map.
Russia produces 11% of the world’s liquid hydrocarbons, while China accounts for 16% of its global consumption.
In the first six months of this year, Russian energy exports to China amounted to about $46.000 billion, an increase of 4% year-on-year.
Russia contributed 20% of China’s energy imports in value terms. When in 2021 this figure was only 13%, he reported.
Local currencies
He highlighted the declining role of the US dollar in global trade.
“This is well illustrated by China’s recent success in using the yuan. In September last year, for example, the yuan surpassed the euro for the first time in trade settlements via SWIFT. The yuan also surpassed the US dollar for the first time in China’s international settlements, and its share now reaches 53%,” he added.
Russia and China quickly moved to settlements in national currencies, the share of which exceeded 90% by the end of 2023, the executive said.
#Sanctions #Russia #effect #economy
2024-07-30 19:20:05
