SOCHI, October 3. /TASS/. The Urals oil blend is currently trading at market prices which are above the so-called price cap, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

According to him, the price cap has been wholly ineffective.

"Today we see that Brent prices have increased, the discount has decreased, and our products are sold above the price cap, at market prices. It is clear that such instruments only make things worse. The worst thing is that they create a precedent so that in the future [it] could be used not only against Russian energy resources, but also against other countries, as well as against other products. I hope that now everyone is convinced that this concocted tool is ineffective and mainly hurts the end consumer," Novak said on the sidelines of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that Russian companies do not supply oil within the "price cap," adhering to the presidential decree.

"Initially, when the price cap was introduced, we said that this was a non-working tool, a tool that only made things worse for consumers, for the entire market. The Russian President issued a special decree obliging our companies not to comply with supply contracts that set a price cap, and our companies adhere to the decree," he said.

On December 5, 2022, an embargo on maritime Russian oil shipments to the European Union went into effect. G7 nations, the EU and Australia agreed on a price cap for Russian oil delivered by sea, setting the ceiling at $60 a barrel. Moreover, starting February 5, 2023, similar restrictions on deliveries of petroleum products from Russia were enforced as the EU Council officially greenlighted the decision, in conjunction with the G7, to introduce a price ceiling on Russian petroleum products supplied by sea at $100 for premium oil and at $45 for discount. Changing the oil price requires consent from all EU countries and G7 members.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it will not supply oil to countries that use this mechanism.

Meanwhile, at the end of September, the United States stated that Western countries were not going to abandon the use of the "price cap," but US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted that the instrument was not working as intended.