Russia didn’t initiate OPEC+ deal exit: PM
Pump jacks pump oil at an oil field on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo by Reuters/Grigory Dukor. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
MOSCOW, Mar 12, 2020, TASS. Russia proposed to extend the OPEC+ agreement for a year, it was other countries that initiated leaving the deal, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said opening a government meeting, TASS reported.
“We did not initiate the withdrawal from the agreement [OPEC+ deal]. On the contrary, we proposed to extend the agreement on the existing terms, at least until the end of the second quarter or for a year, so as not to complicate the situation that has developed with the spread of coronavirus,” Mishustin stated.
Russia has sufficient reserves for the long term, despite low oil prices, the prime minister indicated.
“We have been living in conditions of rather low inflation for several years now, so we have a large margin of safety: the Bank of Russia’s gold and currency assets exceeded $570 billion, the volume of liquid assets of the National Wealth Fund is estimated at more than 10 trillion rubles, and even at steadily low oil prices this will be enough for many years to compensate for the budget losses of these funds,” Mishustin stressed.
Russia is working on additional import substitution measures in industries and agriculture, the prime minister said.
“Now we are working on additional measures to deepen import substitution in industries and agriculture, expanding opportunities for the export of non-oil and gas high-tech products,” he stated.
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