Page 157 - RusRPTMar23

imports” have been influential. The growing share in total retail turnover confirms that amid the fallout of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, e- commerce marketplaces were fast to streamline their supplies of the so-called “parallel imports” for goods that are no longer officially distributed in Russia as brands pull out of the country.
9.1.10 Utilities & Renewables sector news
Electricity production in the Russian Federation in January 2023 decreased by 0.4% compared to January 2022, to 113bn kWh, the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) reported. Compared to December 2022, the decrease in output was 0.8%. The generation at thermal power plants in January 2023 compared to January last year amounted to 77.9bn kWh (+2.7%), nuclear power plants - 19.2bn kWh (- 4.2%), HPPs - 15.5bn kWh (-9.5%), RES - 510mn kWh (+11.9%).
The total investment volume in the Russian energy industry in 2023 will reach around 1.3 trillion rubles ($17.39bn), Deputy Minister of Energy Evgeny Grabchak said in an interview with TASS.
The European Commission abandoned plans to sanction Russia's nuclear sector or its representatives in its the tenth sanctions package, because of Europe’s ongoing dependence on Russian nuclear fuel supplies.
The EU executive initially told EU countries that it would try to draw up sanctions targeting Russia's civil nuclear sector. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy urged the bloc at least to issue sanctions against Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom.
But that plan has failed.
The EU's sanctions packages are divided into multiple parts: New rules that target specific sectors, such as aviation or military, and lists that impose visa restrictions and asset freezes on individuals and companies — but none include the nuclear sector, according to drafts seen by POLITICO and EU diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hungary has long opposed targeting the nuclear sector, pointing to its dependency on Rosatom. To overcome a potential veto by Hungary, the EU had considered putting individual employees of Rosatom and other companies on the list — but chose in the end not to do so.
"Hungary doesn’t let it through, as their nuclear plant is owned by Rosatom and they say it produces 50% of the country’s energy supply. But sanctions against individuals (other than the CEO) should not impact energy security," said a second, senior EU diplomat. "And the EU should respond to Zelenskiy’s
157 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com