The Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked international outrage and harsh penalties aimed at reducing Moscow’s war fund. Yet, according to a new estimate, Russia’s income from fossil fuels, by far its largest export, rose to record levels in the first 100 days of its war on Ukraine, propelled by a bonanza from oil sales amid skyrocketing prices.
According to figures analyzed by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based research organization, Russia earned a record €93 billion (US$ 135 billion) in revenue from oil, gas, and coal exports in the first 100 days of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Oil accounted for around two-thirds of total earnings, with natural gas accounting for the majority of the remaining.
Exports of fossil fuels have been critical to Russia’s military modernization. According to the International Energy Agency, earnings from oil and gas alone will account for 45 percent of Russia’s state budget in 2021.
According to the research center, Russia’s earnings from fossil fuel exports exceeds what the nation spends on its war in Ukraine, a sobering fact as momentum changes in Russia’s favor as its forces focus on major regional objectives amid a weapons scarcity among Ukrainian soldiers.
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air discovered that income at Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company, remained about twice as high as the previous year due to increasing gas prices.