Page 13 - bne magazine July 2022_20220704

bne July 2022 Companies & Markets I 13
sanctions were imposed in March and an effort by the state to keep the population with all the creature comforts of capitalism they have got used to.
A representative of the Svyaznoy said the company will buy Samsung smartphones, the latest generation iPhone, as well as PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo game consoles. No details were given of which company or country will be used as an intermediary, but analysts speculate that Turkey will become a major conduit. Serbia is another possibility.
Svyaznoy plans to substitute its own official guarantee for that of the producer to give customers some reassurance and customer care.
Calls growing for
a price cap on Russian oil exports
Kommersant’s company source said: “All these products
are intended only for the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) countries, so there will be no problems with device activation [as was the case with some Samsung smartphones].
Service covers all devices. As before, the warranty service will be performed by the service centre, but if earlier the manufacturer took on the costs, now the distributor will pay,” Svyaznoy explained.
The retailer will probably have to return money for faulty devices out of its own pocket, because it no longer has the protection of the manufacturer, as it used to be, experts say.
Trying to block Russia's oil exports completely (and inevitably failing) would send prices even higher, with the upshot the Kremlin makes even more money than it does now. Better to cap the price the West pays for oil instead, say some. / wiki
its reduced volumes than it did before the war at “normal” prices. Russia is currently earning its largest currency account surpluses ever despite sanctions, self-sanctions and a 30% discount on its Urals blend of oil. The implementation of a really strict European oil embargo would almost certainly send oil prices even higher.
To get round these problems, there are calls for a new strategy that does not have the unrealistic goal of completely blocking Russia’s exports, but instead would attempt to lower the price of oil to hurt the Russian budget and also siphon off some of the profits Russia would earn into a fund, that will therefore encourage the Kremlin to end the war and agree to pay reparations.
CEO of Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko called on June 14 for a price cap on Russia’s exports that would normalise the market. “Further to the ongoing debate on the risks and benefits of different options for the energy sanctions against Russia, I would suggest considering
Ben Aris in Berlin
Europe has been wrestling to get its members to sign up to a full ban on Russian oil products as many countries remain extremely dependent on the supply of Russian crude.
An oil embargo was supposed to be the flagship penalty in the recently approved sixth package of sanctions, but the measures finally adopted were watered down and Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia obtained exemptions.
Moreover, even if the EU bans Russian imports of oil completely, there is significant leakage with oil being set to other markets in Africa and Asia that are not participating in the sanction’s regime. Currently China and India are receiving half of Russia’s exports in unprecedented volumes, even if Russia's overall volume of exports is
down significantly.
The other problem is that restricting Russia’s exports will drive up demand for non-sanctioned oil and inflate prices to the point where Russia could actually make more money on
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