Amid the revelation that the West is paying Russia more than $1 billion a day for oil and gas that Putin can use to subsidize his invasion of Ukraine for $15 one billion per day, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, made moves this Tuesday to block the departure of foreign companies from his country.
With the foregoing, Putin seeks to keep his cash to prop up his wartime economic implosion following BP and Shell’s commitment to sell 15.000 million pounds sterling (15.000 million dollars) in joint ventures after the invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that a presidential order was signed as Western countries tightened sanctions, the ruble plummeted to an all-time low, and Russians queued night and day to get cash from ATMs in the middle of a to bank run.
Russia will impose temporary restrictions on investors foreigners seeking to get out of Russian assets to ensure they make a “considered decision, not driven by political pressure,” Mishutin said at a government meeting in Moscow.
However, the minister did not provide details on how it would be enforced, as Shell told the MailOnline that its plans to sever ties with Russia will continue as planned. BP has not yet issued any comments in this regard.
“In the current sanction situation, foreign businessmen are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure. To give companies the opportunity to make a considered decision, a presidential order was prepared to impose temporary restrictions on the outflow of Russian assets,’ Mishustin noted.
This situation takes place when it was revealed that the West is still paying Russia more than $1 billion a day for oil and gas that Putin can use to subsidize his invasion of Ukraine for $15 billion a day.
Shell said on Monday that it will abandon its work with Gazprom and withdraw from the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline as Western powers reel from President Putin’s warmongering in Eastern Europe. Shell is said to have offered million pounds of funding for the project.
The company warned that this would represent a blow by submitting a plan to exit a number of projects. These include its 27,5% stake in Sakhalin 2, a flagship facility in the Russian Far East that is majority owned by Gazprom and produces around 4 % of the world’s liquefied natural gas.
However, he did not announce to whom they would sell their shares. Although he will not abandon Russia completely, as he has a network of around 400 gas stations and a lubricants business in the country that he said he intends to maintain.
Shell’s announcement came a day after BP said it was cutting ties with Kremlin-backed oil company Rosneft. BP now seeks to divest its 19,75% stake in Rosneft and current boss Bernard Looney have stepped down from the board.
But Putin’s control over the world’s oil and gas means Europe and the US continue to buy nearly a billion dollars a day to Russia. While the UK also imports smaller quantities from Russia.
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