– We expect up to one trillion rubles (SEK 150 billion) in extra oil and gas revenues, according to the forecast we have now made, Siluanov says in a speech that Russian state television shows parts of.
The increase is therefore due to the fact that the world, despite the war, continues to buy Russian raw materials. At the same time, Russia has new spending due to the bloody war, so there is no way to put aside any of this “trillion bonus”, Siluanov emphasizes.
– As for the money for the “special operation”, enormous resources are required.
In Russia, it is forbidden to call the war anything other than “a special operation”.
Mocking Europe
In addition to direct war spending, the Russian government wants to support the country’s pensioners with larger payments, and also launch general support packages for the economy.
The Western world has imposed a long series of sanctions on Russia over the war. But EU countries still seem to be too dependent on oil and gas to stop that trade. Even countries like India are reportedly continuing to trade Russia’s fossil fuels as usual.
President Vladimir Putin has mocked Europe’s “chaotic measures” precisely because they could lead to rising revenues for Russia.
Managed to pay
At the same time, the sanctions will still have serious consequences for Russia’s opportunities for international trade. A permit that the United States had for Russia to make debt repayments in foreign currencies via US banks expired on Thursday, and the authorities in Washington made it clear that it will not be renewed.
This increases the risk that Russia will make a kind of unique bankruptcy this summer – a financial disaster that is not due to the country running out of money, but because it lacks opportunities to transfer the funds, reports the news agency Reuters.
On the other hand, Russia managed to make two bond payments on Friday, despite the US permit expiring, Siluanov states according to Reuters. The next major installments are at the end of June, and Russia now says it is working on what methods can be used to make them.