Page 82 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

process in Europe, which has recently subsided.
● Partners
Russian oil exports were 7% higher in 2023 than the figure in 2021, First
Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov said on December 23.
"Crude oil exports are 7% above the figure of 2021 and are about 250mn metric tonnes. Russian energy export in the money equivalent reached indicators of the year of 2021 and remains at a level comfortable for the budget and companies," he said.
Exports of energy commodities to the European Union declined by 4.5 times, Belousov said. Supplies to unfriendly countries fell by 3.5 times in general, compared to 2021, he added.
US directly buys oil from Russia despite sanctions. The sanctions imposed on Russian oil are not working, and the Western countries that imposed these restrictions are circumventing them themselves. This also applies to the United States, which directly buys oil from Russia without even hiding it, Ukrainian TG channel “Military” stated. In November, a tanker with 50,000 tonnes of Russian oil products left Novorossiysk and went directly to the US Navy base in Norfolk. This is confirmed by resources tracking marine vessel traffic. As noted, although the tanker runs under the Liberian flag, it belongs to the German transportation company Chemikalien Seetransport GmbH (CST).
82 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com