MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Russia is observing a trade imbalance on the global market due to the crisis in the Middle East, particularly in the oil and gas chemicals, plastics, and fertilizers markets, which will take a long time to recover, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress.
"The longer the crisis in the Middle East drags on, the longer it will affect other sectors of the economy and the imbalance that is currently forming globally. This is affecting oil and gas chemicals, the plastics market, fertilizers, and supply chains that will take quite a long time to recover," he said.
Novak also stressed that a shortage of oil products has emerged on the global market due to the conflict in the Middle East, with supply shortages also observed in the petrochemicals and liquefied petroleum gas markets.
"There is already a trade imbalance. We see that, first of all, it exists in the energy sector, with the closure of certain markets, oil products production in significant deficit, and prices rising sharply. There is a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas," he said.