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Russia's claim of immunity. Although Cockerill declined to grant Russia permission to appeal, Russia retains the option to directly apply to the Court of Appeal.
A lawyer representing Russia in the London case declined to comment on the ruling issued on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the GML shareholder group, which had previously held a majority stake in Yukos through its subsidiaries, did not provide an immediate response.
2.4 OIl cap price sanctions fail
The US-led price cap on Russian oil exports has failed and “almost no Russian oil is being sold for less than $60”, the Financial Times reported on November 14, according to Western experts and Russian export data.
In October, "almost none" of the seaborne crude oil shipments adhered to the maximum $60-per-barrel limit set by the G7, the EU and Australia in December of the previous year, as stated by a senior European government official in an interview with the FT.
After the start of the war, in Europe, a sharp decline in demand led to a substantial drop in Urals prices by $20-$25 per barrel, plummeting to $50-$55. Yet, in regions where Russian oil remains in demand, such as exports from Pacific Ocean ports and pipelines to China, the reduction is more modest, with Urals prices only dipping by $10 per barrel to $60-$65, indicating a relatively minor discount.
A KSE study includes an example of export prices in Russia’s strategically important Pacific port of Kozmino – in the first quarter of this year, they were approximately $75 per barrel.
“At the same time, 96% of the sales exceeded the threshold of $60,” KSE said in a report.
The so-called “shadow fleet,” a term coined by Western media to describe hundreds of registered tankers involved in “gray” oil exports, is contested by Andriy Klymenko, head of the Institute of Strategic Black Sea Studies.
Presenting data for September, he asserts that 51% of vessels transporting Urals from Russian Black Sea ports were owned by entities in Greece and Cyprus, 18% by Russian entities registered in UAE subsidiaries, 17% by Turkish companies, and 14% by firms in Liberia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, challenging the notion of secrecy surrounding these operations.
12 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com