MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The dollar increased by 1.45 rubles to 80.01 rubles, in the course of the trading session on the Moscow Exchange, exceeding 80 rubles for the first time since December 16, 2014.
The ruble weakens due to falling oil prices. Thus, the price of Brent futures contract with March delivery on ICE in London fell by 3.2% to $27.84 per barrel.
On January 19, Chief Executive Officer at Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives Andrey Nikitin said that lifting of anti-Iran sanctions would be putting pressure on the oil market.
"Obviously, Iran will be affecting oil [market]. It is one of the biggest producers. For Russia this opens up big opportunities for exporting goods and technologies to Iran," he said, adding that the Agency for Strategic Initiatives welcomes a number of projects of Russian exporters to Iran.