Russian oil supplies to India are delayed due to payment problems – Kommersant

Deliveries of Russian Sokol oil to India are delayed due to payment problems, agency sources said Reuters. According to the agency’s interlocutors, payments to the Indian state company Indian Oil Corp, which entered into an annual contract for the supply of Russian oil, are not going through because Sakhalin-1 LLC, a subsidiary of Rosneft that supplies this grade of oil to India, was unable to open an account in a UAE bank.

Representatives of the Indian company and Rosneft did not comment on the situation to the agency. It is noted that Indian companies are settling payments with Russia in United Arab Emirates dirhams after the government advised them not to use the Chinese yuan. In October, Bloomberg, citing a senior Indian official wrotethat India has begun to reject Russian requests to pay for oil in yuan due to growing tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.

December 21 Bloomberg reportedthat six Russian tankers carrying Sokol oil stopped on their way to India. The ships were heading to the Indian ports of Paradip and Vadinar. They transport about 5 million barrels of Russian oil.

December 20, Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev statedthat by the end of 2023, 70 million tons of Russian oil will be supplied to India.

Alexandra Goroshilova