EU countries are waiting for rising inflation and price shock after the phase-out of Russian oil, declared Guntram Wolf, head of the Bruegel Research Center in Brussels, in an article by Spiegel magazine.
In his opinion, for Europe this could be “the worst possible scenario”, because European companies and consumers will suffer from high prices for resources, which, moreover, with a high degree of probability, will continue to grow further.
“Governments can try to cushion the price shock with gas station rebates, tax cuts and bailouts, as they have done in recent months. This can increase the national debt, ”Wolf Spiegel quotes.
The economist believes that the embargo will reduce Russia’s oil revenues only in the distant future. And the head of the Energy Comment think tank, Steffen Bukold, predicts that Moscow will find new oil buyers in Asia.
Recall – the Council of the EU on Friday finally approved and published the content of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia because of the special operation in Ukraine. It includes, among other things, a phased, within six months, refusal of the EU countries to use Russian oil imported by sea, and oil products – within eight months. An exception was made only for oil supplied via pipelines: for now, Europe will continue to import via the Druzhba oil pipeline.
By the end of the year, the EU expects to abandon almost 90 percent of the oil it currently imports from Russia.