Russia earning billions from Hormuz blockade, German trade body says
The German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade said on Tuesday that Russia has earned billions in revenue from commodity exports due to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The chamber stated that Russia’s profit from oil, gas and fertilizer exports is more than 10 billion euros ($11.54 billion) per month. “The biggest winner of the new war in the Middle East is Russia,” the chamber’s president, Matthias Schepp, told dpa.
Russia benefits from high global commodity prices due to its use of other export routes. In his statement in Moscow, Schepp said that all of this “could bring Russia an unexpected chance on a historic scale.”
With a sustained oil price around $100 per barrel, Russia can expect an annual increase of $71.8 billion compared to the budget plan.
The price of Brent crude oil for June delivery rose above the industry standard of $111 per barrel (capacity of 159 liters each) at the beginning of the week. This is almost $40 more than before the war began.
The Russian budget is heavily dependent on the sale of oil and gas, which is currently assumed to be $59 per barrel in the budget. Before the Iran war, it was running a deficit because oil prices were below the planned level.
“At the current price level, Moscow can generate approximately $50 billion in additional revenue per year from oil and gas alone,” the chamber said.
Russia finances its war in Ukraine through exports
Hoping that Western sanctions will end, Russia uses the income from commodity sales to finance its war against Ukraine.
Some in Moscow are already hoping for an oil price of $200 a barrel. That would bring in $350.4 billion, $247 billion more than planned in the budget, according to the chamber.
