MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. When selling oil to countries that do not cap prices, Russia will set the price on the basis of market principles, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview aired by the Rossiya-24 TV news channel on Wednesday.
"The question concerns the discounts on Russian oil nowadays. The ceiling may affect the amount of the discount in some way. We will sell in accordance with the market, on the contracts that our suppliers will make with the countries that do not introduce a ceiling. Prices will be defined on the basis of market principles, not on the basis of ceilings, restrictions, which cannot work within the framework of market price formation," he explained.
On December 5, an embargo on maritime Russian oil shipments to the European Union came into force. Moreover, EU states also agreed on a price cap for Russian oil delivered by sea, setting the ceiling at $60 a barrel. A similar decision was announced by the G7 and Australia. The West has also banned its companies from providing transport, financial and insurance services to tankers carrying oil from Russia at a price above the agreed-on ceiling.
On December 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on retaliatory measures to the West's imposition of a price cap on Russian oil, banning supplies of Russian oil to buyers who join the West’s restrictions from February 1, 2023 until July 1, 2023.