MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The dollar rose by 2.48 rubles to 81.04 rubles in the course of the trading session on the Moscow Exchange on Wednesday, exceeding 80.1 rubles — the maximum of December 16, 2014, by almost 1 ruble.

The euro increased by 2.69 rubles to 88.41 rubles.

The ruble weakens following oil prices. Thus, the price of Brent futures contract with March delivery on ICE in London fell by 2.99% to $27.9 per barrel.

On January 19, Chief Executive Officer at Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives Andrey Nikitin said that lifting of anti-Iran sanctions will 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.

As was reported earlier on January 16, the EU authorities declared they fully lifted sanctions against Tehran while the US announced that it partially lifted its sanctions against the country. The move followed the announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency that the Islamic Republic complied with the terms of the nuclear deal.

Earlier top representatives of Iran’s oil market said the country was ready to increase production and export of oil by 500,000 barrels per day immediately after sanctions are lifted.