According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, by the end of February, the state budget showed almost 90% of the deficit planned for the year.
This year, Russia is at risk of an even bigger budget deficit than expected, writes Welt. According to Russian mass media, the country's budget at the end of January and February already shows a deficit of ₽2.581 trillion (€32.3 billion). This is already almost 90 percent of the total deficit of ₽2.925 trillion (€36.6 billion) planned for the year. During the same period last year, Russia achieved a surplus of ₽415 billion (€5.2 billion).
The main problem for the Russian budget is the drop in oil and gas revenues. According to the preliminary calculations of the Ministry of Finance, they were reduced by almost half. This is primarily due to the drop in the price of oil and the drop in natural gas exports.
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On Monday in the morning, a barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in May cost $85.33. However, due to Putin's war against Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions, including price caps on Russian crude oil and petroleum products, Urals oil is trading at a significant discount. According to the media, Moscow sells its Urals oil at an average price of about $50 per barrel.
In January, Russian Urals oil sold almost half as cheap as Brent oil. The price of Russian Urals was $49.48, which is the minimum since December 2020 and is 42.2% cheaper than a year ago.
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