MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/: The Russian side will wait until the final parameters of the EU embargo are clear, as it doesn’t understand what can substitute for Russian oil products in Europe, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with TASS.
"Europe used to be a key market for the sale of our oil products. Let us wait and see which decisions they will make in the long run. So far, we don’t know what may substitute for our fuel," he said.
At the same time, he did not rule out that several countries may ask for being exempt from the embargo on supplies of Russian oil products.
"Probably, they will resort to exemptions, like it was with oil, when the restrictions did not apply to pipeline supplies, refineries in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Even Germany and Poland, who declared their refusal from Russian oil, have applied for it for 2023," he said.
An embargo on supplies of Russian oil to the European Union came into effect on December 5, but so far this embargo does not apply to supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. An embargo on supplies of Russian oil products to European countries will come into force on February 5, 2023.
