OREANDA-NEWS. Russia might consider direct oil product supplies to Greece to support the latter’s economy, writes Vedomosti. No details are available. So far, Russia exports only diesel to Greece (about 0.6mmt per year).

The decision to provide help to Greece is driven by political reasons, meaning some discount to the price is likely. Hence, this might harm the economics of Russian oil companies. Although the volumes are in general not significant – diesel exports to Greece amount to just 1.2% of Russia’s total diesel exports – the news might be perceived negatively by investors. However, the brunt of this development, were it to materialise, might eventually be borne by the state (e.g. via lower export duties). There are no details on the matter yet, especially, which counterparty (Russian government or oil companies) might bear the potentially increased costs of supporting Greece via direct supplies of oil products. We reiterate our general view on the industry, emphasising the risk of more potential interventions on different occasions.

Dmitry Loukashov, Ekaterina Rodina, Alexander Donskoy, Kirill Komarov
VTB Capital analysts