Impact of EU Anti-Russian Sanctions on Energy Trade between Russia and Its Key Partners

The EU sanctions have targeted Russian energy industry since 2014. Since February 2022, the European Union has imposed a series of unprecedented restrictions affecting Russian fuel trade, a highly sensitive area for both sides, each having a pragmatic interest hereinunder. Energy price cap established in 2022 became the climax of the EU’ sanctions policy against the Russian fuel and energy complex, making it one of the toughest measures in the history of the EU’s anti-Russian energy restrictions. In order to adapt to the new realities, the export directions of the Russian oil industry were reoriented from Europe to Asia. A number of domestic and foreign researchers have focused on the EU’ sanctions policy against the Russian fuel and energy industry, assessing its impact on the global energy market. At the same time, some issues remain insufficiently studied, including the effectiveness of the Russian adaptation strategy, as well as the impact of this strategy on Russia’s key trading partners. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of the EU’ sanctions against the Russian fuel and energy complex on energy trade between Russia and its main counterparts; to reflect the current trends in Russia’s energy trade relations with China, India and Turkey; to assess the effectiveness of Russia’s strategy tailored to adapt to the EU’ restrictions in this area; and to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. The research shows that in the short term, the domestic oil industry has managed to promptly respond to the challenges that arose, which was possible due to significant discounts provided to the new partners. While Russian economy was trying to adapt to the current conditions in the global energy market, using the aforementioned strategy, key beneficiaries of the EU’ sanctions policy were clearly identified, including India, China and Turkey.

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