Quote (Prox1m1ty @ 2 May 2024 23:23)
The exchange rate is 91 rubles to 1 usd, so about $6.59 billion.
From the article:
Quote
While Gazprom continues to ship pipeline gas to several European countries, last year its flows to Europe fell to the lowest since the early 1970s, according to International Energy Agency estimates.
This year Russia expects its gas shipments via pipelines to foreign markets will increase 18% this year to 108 billion cubic meters compared with 2023, as the Power of Siberia link to China gradually reaches its nameplate capacity. But even as more supplies head to China, it can’t offset the loss of the European market.
That's what I've been saying for the past 18 months: Russia cannot easily replace the European market when it comes to natural gas. Oil might be a different story since it's much more fungible (although the increased shipping costs to place like India cut into their profit margins compared to oil pipelines). Just like I already predicted 18 months ago that Russia's surprisingly robust revenue in 2022, in spite of the Western sanctions, would be a one-off, a windfall profit from the turmoil on the global energy markets which had sent prices soaring. Well, now, the dust has finally settled, prices have come back down to earth and Russia's financial situation suddenly looks a lot less rosy.
Doesn't mean that Russia is finished, or about to run out of steam on the battlefield anytime soon - but it does mean that it will get increasingly difficult for Putin to hide the true costs of this war from the Russian people.
This post was edited by Black XistenZ on May 2 2024 07:30pm