Because London is the largest anti-Russian force, it will now feel the “side effects”, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Shell is out of the Russian business and the British will now feel the consequences. However, London has already announced that it wants to impose a complete import ban.
Shell’s inability to buy Russian gas is a side effect of London’s anti-Russian policy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian news agency TASS. “London wants to be at the forefront of anything anti-Russian, it even wants Washington [in dieser Angelegenheit] to be ahead. Well, here are the side effects,” Peskov said, commenting on the fact that the UK, unlike other EU countries, imposed sanctions on Gazprombank and is now unable to pay for Russian gas, even in rubles. Bloomberg already reported on Friday that Shell most likely will not be able to pay for Russian gas this month, because the UK imposed sanctions on Gazprombank.
Gazprom is aware of possible payment problems with Shell and is looking for ways to resolve them, the sources told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity because the talks are not public. The Russian energy giant does not expect the ruble conversion to become a significant problem in its dealings with most of its European customers. “We are carefully monitoring the situation,” Shell’s press office said in an email, declining to comment further on possible problems with transferring money to Gazprom.
As a global oil company, Shell not only supplies the British market, but as a partly British company it is feeling the effects of the spiraling sanctions massively. shell had some investments in Russiaincluding a 27.5 percent stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant and a 50 percent stake in a project to exploit the Salym fields in western Siberia and on the Gydam Peninsula in north-western Siberia. Last year, the last two joint ventures alone brought in around 700 million dollars. In total, Shell has invested around three billion dollars in Russia. Money that will probably have to be written off in part because of the sanctions.
The British see themselves in energy stress
The number of UK households suffering from energy stress has doubled since the start of this month as the country’s energy market regulator lifted the cap on energy prices. A news agency report Reuters According to the report, the number of households suffering from energy stress – spending at least 10 percent of their budget on energy bills – has doubled to 5 million and will continue to rise, according to the Resolution Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on living standards.
From today, energy bills for millions of UK households will be 56 per cent higher after Ofgem, the energy market regulator, lifted the cap on energy prices due to soaring gas prices. Worse, the bills could get even higher as the year progresses: Ofgem will also be reviewing prices in October. One earlier estimate The Resolution Foundation estimates that the number of households suffering from energy shortages could reach 6.3 million in April alone. If Ofgem also raises the price cap in October, which is the most likely scenario, another 2.5 million households will join the ranks of energy stressed, the think tank said.
The UK imported 4 billion pounds worth of Russian oil in 2021 – 3 billion pounds of refined oil and 1 billion pounds of crude oil. “Russian imports account for 8% of total UK oil demand, but the UK is also a major producer of crude oil and petroleum products, as well as importing from a variety of reliable suppliers outside of Russia, including the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the US.” Downing St in a statementin which the decision on a total import ban was announced.
