Mar 13, 2022: According to a report by Reuters, Russia urged India to deepen its investments in the sanction-hit country’s oil and gas sector, and is keen on expanding the sales networks of Russian companies in Asia’s third-largest economy.

“Russia’s oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure,” said Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement shared by Russia’s embassy in India late on Friday.

Russia’s economy is facing its deepest crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the West imposed tougher sanctions on Ukraine over Moscow’s invasion. Some Western allies have urged India to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine, when New Delhi abstained from voting against Moscow, a longtime arms supplier to the United Nations.

“We are interested in further attracting Indian investment to the Russian oil and gas sector and expanding Russian companies’ sales networks in India,” Novak told Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri.

Earlier this week, the U.S banned Russian oil imports and Britain said it would eliminate them by the end of the year, a decision that is expected to further disrupt the global energy market since Russia is the second largest crude exporter.

Indian state-owned companies hold shares in the Russian oil and gas sector, while Russian companies, including Rosneft, hold a majority stake in Indian refiner Nayara Energy.

Some Indian companies also buy Russian oil. Novak said Russia expects the two countries to continue cooperating on civilian nuclear power, including building new units at a nuclear power plant in the southern Indian town of Kundankulam.

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