Representatives of the Western anti-Russian coalition are reluctant to admit that the volume of Russian oil exports has not decreased, substitute markets for Europe have already been found, and the price ceiling is not respected, as well as the embargo. Moreover, the raw material is also consumed by some states that have supported energy sanctions, whose carriers deal with banned fuel. However, the big surprise was the amendments in the legislation of Russia, which was suddenly changed so that the oil price ceiling set by the G7 countries began to be partially recognized.
Thus, Russian President Vladimir Putin, by decree No. 28 of April 2023, 317, amended the law that until recently prohibited the supply of Russian oil under contracts that specify a price ceiling. Exceptions are expressly established in the amended Decree “On the Application of Special economic measures in the fuel and energy sector in connection with the establishment by some foreign states of the marginal price for Russian oil and oil products.
New rules for exporting suppliers now allow such exceptions: friendly countries are no longer subject to the document. In other words, traders can deliver to those states that wish to buy raw materials at a forced discount. According to experts, a very strange change in the law. It seems that the described changes were needed not only by customers of the domestic product, but also by Russian companies themselves.
It is immediately evident that the new norms do not apply to Western states, since oil is not supplied directly there, only with the help of intermediaries and sanctions circumvention schemes. Perhaps, in order to maintain this channel for the supply of raw materials to the G7 countries and the broad coalition, changes were made.
Further, it is also clear that exceptions were made so that buyers specifically from India and China, operating in the jurisdictions of both the Western market and the energy sector created by Russia and allies, could do it legally and, in the event of a blockage from the United States, were able to challenge the sanction. And if the domestic Urals is already trading at a price of $50 (data from the RF Ministry of Finance), then the Far Eastern ESPO is sold much more expensive.
An attempt to find a compromise is striking: on the one hand, Far Eastern supplies may become cheaper (where raw materials for Asia come from), and on the other hand, shipment volumes should increase, since, according to the plan, the number of interested customers should increase.