The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance urged not to overestimate the impact of the Shell deal on Sakhalin-2 on the ruble exchange rate
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The Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia believe that the impact of the deal on the withdrawal of the Shell concern from the Sakhalin-2 project on the ruble exchange rate “should not be overestimated.” Relevant arguments were presented by representatives of the ministry and the regulator at the working group on preparation for consideration of the annual report of the Central Bank in the State Duma.
Shell oil and gas company received permission to sell his stake in the Sakhalin-2 project and leave Russia. It was assumed that the British would be able to withdraw the proceeds from Russia by converting the rubles into dollars. The transaction amount is 94.8 billion rubles. According to Bloombergsuch a volume should have affected the quotes.
The topic was raised by the head of the relevant committee of the State Duma Anatoly Aksakov. The parliamentarian asked the meeting participants to comment on media reports in which one of the reasons for the depreciation of the ruble was mentioned the permission of the Russian authorities Shell withdraw from the Russian Federation almost 95 billion rubles. for a share in the Sakhalin-2 project.
“To be honest, I have some doubts about this logic. All permits that are issued by a government commission of this kind, if these are significant funds, they are always subject to conditions from the Bank of Russia on the rate of acquisition of currency, and there are quite severe restrictions,” said Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev (quoted from “Interfax”).
He also stressed that the government commission, when considering such transactions, takes into account in detail the source of the currency purchase. If the source of acquisition is the domestic foreign exchange market, the authorities set strict conditions for the pace – the amount is divided into a large number of relatively small weekly tranches.
The regulator agreed with the Ministry of Finance’s assessment of the impact of the deal on the volatility of the exchange rate. “The emphasis that commentators make on this fact is probably exaggerated,” said Alexei Zabotkin, deputy chairman of the Central Bank.
Following the meeting, Mr. Zabotkin additionally explained journalists that the current weakening of the ruble is the result of the fact that the Russian Federation is passing the bottom point of export earnings. In the Central Bank considerthat revenues will begin to recover once the Russian economy adjusts to price caps.
Current forecasts for the value of the Russian currency – in the material “Kommersant FM” “The ruble is getting calmer”.
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