India – a key buyer of Russian oil in Asia, who was recorded with a record import after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, continues to pay for barrels in dollars after six months of negotiations on payment in rupees or rubles. According to Economic Times with reference to Indian officials and representatives of the oil industry, in New Delhi they rejected all the ideas of Russia about alternative currencies.
In the summer, Russian officials insisted that Indian refinery pay for oil “in rubles” – by analogy with gas supply for European countries. Having received a refusal, Moscow put forward alternatives: euro or dirham of the UAE. But these currencies were not arranged by Indian buyers who take about a quarter of the sea export of Russian oil.
Indian offer – payment in rupees – is not satisfied with the Russian side, Economic Times sources say. The reason is in the trade imbalance of the two countries: Russian exports to India significantly exceeds the volume of goods that Indian companies supply in the Russian Federation.
In the first half of October, India purchased about 900 thousand barrels of Russian oil daily – 30 times more than in January. Only half of these supplies are open: the remaining part is tankers hiding the destination when leaving Russian ports should be from Bloomberg data.