Russia Needs New Insurance Program For Oil Exports: Deputy PM

Russia needs new insurance and re-insurance mechanisms for its oil exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.

• “In the current conditions, it’s important, of course, to create new instruments, new systems of insurance and reinsurance that would be accepted by our clients, our partners,” he said.
• This is one of the most public acknowledgments yet that G7/EU sanctions are complicating the nation’s petroleum sales.
• Companies in G7 countries can only provide services for oil sales — especially insurance — if the cargoes in question are purchased at or below fixed price thresholds. That’s led to the emergence of a large fleet of tankers serving Russia’s interests, but their insurance status has often been unclear.
• Novak said at the energy ministry’s annual meeting that new insurance mechanisms need to be found that would be accepted by its foreign trading partners.
• Developing relations with so-called friendly states to re-direct energy flows is among priorities, he said, adding that new markets include Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Central Asia.