Gennady Ryabtsev, Energy Expert, Special Projects Director at Scientific-Technical Center «Psycheа», said in his speech that European states are currently in need of additional consultations related to the timing of the embargo and the benefits these states receive, which are heavily dependent on Russian oil exports and can not quickly replace it without losses to their own economies.
"There are also member states of the European Union, which are significantly dependent on revenues derived from the transportation of Russian oil by sea. That is why it is so difficult to abandon 100 million tons of oil and 70 million tons of petroleum products, which are not superfluous in the European market", he stressed.
The expert noted: "However, one cannot say that Europe has already refused to sign the sixth package of sanctions [against Russia - ed.], which includes oil issues as well. They just need a little more time for that".
Gennady Ryabtsev also said that we cannot say that the imposition of these sanctions will significantly worsen the state of the Russian economy.
"It will be quite a painful effect on both GDP and the oil and gas sector and will significantly hit the Russian economy. If we talk about a full oil embargo, it could lead to losses of $75-80 billion a year to the Russian budget," he said.