-Can Russia avoid trading in U.S. dollar?
Debates on reducing the use of the U.S. dollar in the Russian economy were among the most important items up for discussion last week.
Statements from Russian authorities following on from the Russian government’s announcement last week of ongoing work to reduce the country’s dependence on the dollar indicate that more initiatives in support of this move are set to accelerate.
Meanwhile, Andrey Kostin, the head of Russia's second-largest bank, VTB, recently said the use of Russia’s national currency in various sectors, including the defense industry, should gradually increase.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov warned such measures would not be easy to implement adding that, 'this is a time-consuming and demanding process.”
-Lukoil halts oil purchases from Iran due to sanctions
Vagit Alekperov, the head of the Russian oil company Lukoil, confirmed that the company does not want to take risks with continuing Iranian oil imports because of the U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Having conducted intensive studies on sanctions again Iran, Alekperov noted, “the risks associated with sanctions are very large and we will not violate any restrictions. We stopped oil purchases from Iran.”
The U.S. administration is expected to launch its second wave of sanctions on Iran's oil trade on Nov. 5.
Lukoil, one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies, accounts for about 2 percent of global oil production.