Vladimir Putin: Despite Sanctions, Russia Remains Among Top Players in Global Energy Market

Western sanctions have put Russia’s energy industry in a quandary, but over the past two and a half years, Russian companies have been able to divert gas, oil, and coal supplies. As Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his speech at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week International Forum in Moscow, Russia “remains one of the main participants in the global energy market, despite the difficulties.” The Russian leader emphasized that currently “90% of Russia’s energy exports are directed to friendly countries.”

Before the tensions between Russia, the USA, and its allies that erupted in February 2022 following the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, “the Asia-Pacific region’s share of Russian energy exports was less than 39%,” and by the end of 2023, “Russian energy imports by countries in this region exceeded 60 percent.” “Deliveries to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline are increasing year after year, and exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) also continue to grow,” said Putin, according to whom Russia will continue to develop its advanced technologies in the field of liquefied natural gas production. “Russia is ready to help its international partners strengthen their technological sovereignty in the energy sector by forming strong scientific and production chains,” emphasized the Russian president, who believes the West is imposing sanctions against Russia “to reduce competition in the energy sector.”

“Western elites are cutting off access to technology in the energy sector to ‘undesirable’ countries because they are no longer able to cope with competition,” Putin said, adding that “the functioning of the sector under transparent and clear rules, as well as the creation of reserves, uninterrupted supplies to markets, create a solid basis for economic growth of the world’s countries.”

According to the Russian president, “this truth is less and less taken into account by those who have adopted the mechanisms of illegal sanctions and believe they can use them to their advantage in the energy sector.” According to Putin, the West “believed that it could block access to energy sector services for those countries it does not like politically (…) by simply pushing them out of the market and practicing openly unfair competition.”

Despite all the difficulties, Russia is making a fair energy transition, “unlike a number of Western countries.” Russia’s energy sector “is one of the greenest in the world, this is an obvious fact. Unlike some Western countries that use the climate agenda to promote their essentially neo-colonial interests, we are putting into practice a fair and orderly energy transition,” emphasized the Russian leader, according to whom “energy consumption in Russia will grow by an average of 2% every year by the end of this decade.” For Putin, rising energy consumption represents “a clear sign of economic growth.”

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in its latest report has increased the forecast for Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 from 2.5% to 3.6%.