Latest news with #CREA
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
How the West is 'fuelling' Putin's war in Ukraine by spending billions on Russian oil and gas
The West is helping fund Russia 's war in Ukraine by spending billions more on importing oil and gas than Kyiv has received in military aid, analysis suggests. Vladimir Putin 's regime is still raking in huge profits from its hydrocarbon exports to the EU – even as its brutal assault on Ukraine enters a fourth year. Despite sweeping sanctions, data shows European countries have handed Moscow three times as much cash for fossil fuels than they have given Kyiv in aid since 2022. Overall, the Kremlin has received receipts of nearly £700billion in the three years since Februry 2022, while aid to Ukraine has been around £230billion over the same period. Of the £192billion Russia has received from sanctioning countries, £176billion has come from the European Union. The shocking statistics, from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), reveal that Russia's energy profits have barely dipped since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Experts say the income is key to fuelling Russia's war machine. Mai Rosner, of pressure group Global Witness, said many Western politicians are more concerned about higher fuel prices than stopping Russian imports. 'There's no real desire in many governments to actually limit Russia's ability to produce and sell oil,' she told the BBC. 'There is way too much fear about what that would mean for global energy markets. There's a line drawn under where energy markets would be too undermined or too thrown off kilter.' Russia supplied 19 per cent of the EU's gas imports last year, including via the TurkStream pipeline supplying Hungary and Slovakia. Sanctions would be the easiest way for the EU to ban Russian gas altogether, but they require unanimous approval from all 27 EU nations. The EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief Kaja Kallas has said Russian oil and gas has escaped the worst sanctions after fears mounted in Europe of an escalation of the war and because exporting the fuel is 'cheaper in the short term'. In June, European chiefs plan to propose alternative measures for reducing the block's reliance on Russian fuel that can be approved by a majority of countries. All members except Hungary and Slovakia have previously welcomed the plan, according to EU diplomats – though some have raised concerns about the impact on energy prices. Surging volumes of gas continue to flow into Europe through Turkey. In the first two months of 2025 alone, gas deliveries via Turkey soared nearly 27 per cent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Russian oil ends up in the West after being processed in third countries. The CREA says it has identified three 'laundromat refineries' in Turkey and three in India processing Russian crude and selling the fuel to sanctioning countries. It says they have used more than £5billion worth of Russian oil to make products for sanctioning countries. Vaibhav Raghunandan, an analyst at CREA, said: '[These countries] know that sanctioning countries are willing to accept this. This is a loophole. It's entirely legal. Everyone's aware of it, but nobody is doing much to actually tackle it in a big way.' India's petroleum ministry dismissed the claim as a 'misleading and deceptive effort to tarnish India's image'. It said in statement: 'As a sovereign country, India is free to import or export goods and commodities within the terms of international law and calling its legitimate business a 'laundromat' implies an illegal activity to which India strongly objects. 'India meets its energy requirements through imports from multiple countries including Russia. India has never shied away from this fact nor is it apologetic about it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How the West is helping Russia to fund its war on Ukraine
Russia has continued to make billions from fossil fuel exports to the West, data shows, helping to finance its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – now in its fourth year. Since the start of that invasion in February 2022, Russia has made more than three times as much money by exporting hydrocarbons than Ukraine has received in aid allocated by its allies. Data analysed by the BBC show that Ukraine's Western allies have paid Russia more for its hydrocarbons than they have given Ukraine in aid. Campaigners say governments in Europe and North America need to do more to stop Russian oil and gas from fuelling the war with Ukraine. Proceeds made from selling oil and gas are key to keeping Russia's war machine going. Oil and gas account for almost a third of Russia's state revenue and more than 60% of its exports. In the wake of the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine's allies imposed sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons. The US and UK banned Russian oil and gas, while the EU banned Russian seaborne crude imports, but not gas. Despite this, by 29 May, Russia had made more than €883bn ($973bn; £740bn) in revenue from fossil fuel exports since the start of the full-scale invasion, including €228bn from the sanctioning countries, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The lion's share of that amount, €209bn, came from EU member states. EU states continued importing pipeline gas directly from Russia until Ukraine cut the transit in January 2025, and Russian crude oil is still piped to Hungary and Slovakia. Russian gas is still piped to Europe in increasing quantities via Turkey: CREA's data shows that its volume rose by 26.77% in January and February 2025 over the same period in 2024. Hungary and Slovakia are also still receiving Russian pipeline gas via Turkey. Despite the West's efforts, in 2024 Russian revenues from fossil fuels fell by a mere 5% compared with 2023, along with a similar 6% drop in the volumes of exports, according to CREA. Last year also saw a 6% increase in Russian revenues from crude oil exports, and a 9% year-on-year increase in revenues from pipeline gas. Russian estimates say gas exports to Europe rose by up to 20% in 2024, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reaching record levels. Currently, half of Russia's LNG exports go the EU, CREA says. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says the alliance has not imposed "the strongest sanctions" on Russian oil and gas because some member states fear an escalation in the conflict and because buying them is "cheaper in the short term". LNG imports have not been included in the latest, 17th package of sanctions on Russia approved by the EU, but it has adopted a road map towards ending all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. Data shows that money made by Russia from selling fossil fuels has consistently surpassed the amount of aid Ukraine receives from its allies. The thirst for fuel can get in the way of the West's efforts to limit Russia's ability to fund its war. Mai Rosner, a senior campaigner from the pressure group Global Witness, says many Western policymakers fear that cutting imports of Russian fuels will lead to higher energy prices. "There's no real desire in many governments to actually limit Russia's ability to produce and sell oil. There is way too much fear about what that would mean for global energy markets. There's a line drawn under where energy markets would be too undermined or too thrown off kilter," she told the BBC. In addition to direct sales, some of the oil exported by Russia ends up in the West after being processed into fuel products in third countries via what is known as "the refining loophole". Sometimes it gets diluted with crude from other countries, too. CREA says it has identified three "laundromat refineries" in Turkey and three in India processing Russian crude and selling the resulting fuel on to sanctioning countries. It says they have used €6.1bn worth of Russian crude to make products for sanctioning countries. India's petroleum ministry criticised CREA's report as "a deceptive effort to tarnish India's image". "[These countries] know that sanctioning countries are willing to accept this. This is a loophole. It's entirely legal. Everyone's aware of it, but nobody is doing much to actually tackle it in a big way," says Vaibhav Raghunandan, an analyst at CREA. Campaigners and experts argue that Western governments have the tools and means available to stem the flow of oil and gas revenue into the Kremlin's coffers. According to former Russian deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov, who is now a diehard opponent of Vladimir Putin, sanctions imposed on trade in Russian hydrocarbons should be better enforced - particularly the oil price cap adopted by the G7 group of nations, which Mr Milov says "is not working". He is fearful, though, that the US government shake-up launched by President Donald Trump will hamper agencies such as the US Treasury or the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which are key for sanctions enforcement. Another avenue is continued pressure on Russia's "shadow fleet" of tankers involved in dodging the sanctions. "That is a complex surgery operation. You need to periodically release batches of new sanctioned vessels, shell companies, traders, insurers etc. every several weeks," Mr Milov says. According to him, this is an area where Western governments have been much more effective, particularly with the introduction of new sanctions by Joe Biden's outgoing administration in January 2025. Mai says that banning Russian LNG exports to Europe and closing the refining loophole in Western jurisdictions would be "important steps in finishing the decoupling of the West from Russian hydrocarbons". According to Mr Raghunandan from CREA, it would be relatively easy for the EU to give up Russian LNG imports. "Fifty percent of their LNG exports are directed towards the European Union, and only 5% of the EU's total [LNG] gas consumption in 2024 was from Russia. So if the EU decides to completely cut off Russian gas, it's going to hurt Russia way more then it's going to hurt consumers in the European Union," he told the BBC. Experts interviewed by the BBC have dismissed Donald Trump's idea that the war with Ukraine will end if Opec brings oil prices down. "People in Moscow are laughing at this idea, because the party which will suffer the most… is the American shale oil industry, the least cost-competitive oil industry in the world," Mr Milov told the BBC. Mr Raghunandan says that Russia's cost of producing crude is also lower than in Opec countries like Saudi Arabia, so they would be hurt by lower oil prices before Russia. "There is no way that Saudi Arabia is going to agree to that. This has been tried before. This has led to conflict between Saudi Arabia and the US," he says. Ms Rosner says there are both moral and practical issues with the West buying Russian hydrocarbons while supporting Ukraine. "We now have a situation in which we are funding the aggressor in a war that we're condemning and also funding the resistance to the war," she says. "This dependence on fossil fuels means that we are really at the whims of energy markets, global energy producers and hostile dictators."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
How the West is helping Russia to fund its war on Ukraine
Russia has continued to make billions from fossil fuel exports to the West, data shows, helping to finance its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – now in its fourth the start of that invasion in February 2022, Russia has made more than three times as much money by exporting hydrocarbons than Ukraine has received in aid allocated by its analysed by the BBC show that Ukraine's Western allies have paid Russia more for its hydrocarbons than they have given Ukraine in say governments in Europe and North America need to do more to stop Russian oil and gas from fuelling the war with Ukraine. How much is Russia still making? Proceeds made from selling oil and gas are key to keeping Russia's war machine and gas account for almost a third of Russia's state revenue and more than 60% of its the wake of the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine's allies imposed sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons. The US and UK banned Russian oil and gas, while the EU banned Russian seaborne crude imports, but not this, by 29 May, Russia had made more than €883bn ($973bn; £740bn) in revenue from fossil fuel exports since the start of the full-scale invasion, including €228bn from the sanctioning countries, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).The lion's share of that amount, €209bn, came from EU member states continued importing pipeline gas directly from Russia until Ukraine cut the transit in January 2025, and Russian crude oil is still piped to Hungary and gas is still piped to Europe in increasing quantities via Turkey: CREA's data shows that its volume rose by 26.77% in January and February 2025 over the same period in and Slovakia are also still receiving Russian pipeline gas via Turkey. Despite the West's efforts, in 2024 Russian revenues from fossil fuels fell by a mere 5% compared with 2023, along with a similar 6% drop in the volumes of exports, according to CREA. Last year also saw a 6% increase in Russian revenues from crude oil exports, and a 9% year-on-year increase in revenues from pipeline estimates say gas exports to Europe rose by up to 20% in 2024, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reaching record levels. Currently, half of Russia's LNG exports go the EU, CREA EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says the alliance has not imposed "the strongest sanctions" on Russian oil and gas because some member states fear an escalation in the conflict and because buying them is "cheaper in the short term".LNG imports have not been included in the latest, 17th package of sanctions on Russia approved by the EU, but it has adopted a road map towards ending all Russian gas imports by the end of shows that money made by Russia from selling fossil fuels has consistently surpassed the amount of aid Ukraine receives from its thirst for fuel can get in the way of the West's efforts to limit Russia's ability to fund its Rosner, a senior campaigner from the pressure group Global Witness, says many Western policymakers fear that cutting imports of Russian fuels will lead to higher energy prices."There's no real desire in many governments to actually limit Russia's ability to produce and sell oil. There is way too much fear about what that would mean for global energy markets. There's a line drawn under where energy markets would be too undermined or too thrown off kilter," she told the BBC. 'Refining loophole' In addition to direct sales, some of the oil exported by Russia ends up in the West after being processed into fuel products in third countries via what is known as "the refining loophole". Sometimes it gets diluted with crude from other countries, says it has identified three "laundromat refineries" in Turkey and three in India processing Russian crude and selling the resulting fuel on to sanctioning countries. It says they have used €6.1bn worth of Russian crude to make products for sanctioning petroleum ministry criticised CREA's report as "a deceptive effort to tarnish India's image". "[These countries] know that sanctioning countries are willing to accept this. This is a loophole. It's entirely legal. Everyone's aware of it, but nobody is doing much to actually tackle it in a big way," says Vaibhav Raghunandan, an analyst at and experts argue that Western governments have the tools and means available to stem the flow of oil and gas revenue into the Kremlin's coffers. According to former Russian deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov, who is now a diehard opponent of Vladimir Putin, sanctions imposed on trade in Russian hydrocarbons should be better enforced - particularly the oil price cap adopted by the G7 group of nations, which Mr Milov says "is not working".He is fearful, though, that the US government shake-up launched by President Donald Trump will hamper agencies such as the US Treasury or the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which are key for sanctions avenue is continued pressure on Russia's "shadow fleet" of tankers involved in dodging the sanctions."That is a complex surgery operation. You need to periodically release batches of new sanctioned vessels, shell companies, traders, insurers etc. every several weeks," Mr Milov says. According to him, this is an area where Western governments have been much more effective, particularly with the introduction of new sanctions by Joe Biden's outgoing administration in January says that banning Russian LNG exports to Europe and closing the refining loophole in Western jurisdictions would be "important steps in finishing the decoupling of the West from Russian hydrocarbons".According to Mr Raghunandan from CREA, it would be relatively easy for the EU to give up Russian LNG imports."Fifty percent of their LNG exports are directed towards the European Union, and only 5% of the EU's total [LNG] gas consumption in 2024 was from Russia. So if the EU decides to completely cut off Russian gas, it's going to hurt Russia way more then it's going to hurt consumers in the European Union," he told the BBC. Trump's oil-price plan to end war Experts interviewed by the BBC have dismissed Donald Trump's idea that the war with Ukraine will end if Opec brings oil prices down."People in Moscow are laughing at this idea, because the party which will suffer the most… is the American shale oil industry, the least cost-competitive oil industry in the world," Mr Milov told the Raghunandan says that Russia's cost of producing crude is also lower than in Opec countries like Saudi Arabia, so they would be hurt by lower oil prices before Russia."There is no way that Saudi Arabia is going to agree to that. This has been tried before. This has led to conflict between Saudi Arabia and the US," he Rosner says there are both moral and practical issues with the West buying Russian hydrocarbons while supporting Ukraine."We now have a situation in which we are funding the aggressor in a war that we're condemning and also funding the resistance to the war," she says. "This dependence on fossil fuels means that we are really at the whims of energy markets, global energy producers and hostile dictators."
Global News
20-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
If you're a seller, what's your best move in a tricky real estate market?
While it may be a good time for some Canadian home buyers to make the jump into real estate, realtors say those selling their home could face difficulties. Spring is often a season that sees home sales ramp up, but depending on where you live and what kind of property you're trying to sell, you're likely to face a trickier time, experts say — and some, like condo owners, may need to 'take the loss' just to get a deal done. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), home sales in April declined nearly 10 per cent compared to last year. 'A lot of people are just kind of waiting to see what's happening,' said realtor Stephen Moore with Century 21. 'We can blame it on the situation that Canada is in, where there was an election that kind of paused things, the Trump tariffs kind of put people at bay, those kind of things put people on the sideline. They want to wait.' Story continues below advertisement 3:43 Competitive Saskatoon housing market driving prices in an upward trend As a result, certain markets like Toronto and Vancouver saw a stagnation in home sales and in prospective buyers who would purchase those properties. But Moore said that's not the case in every market. The national price map from CREA shows that while housing prices in Ontario have declined from a year ago — Ontario dropped from $902,535 to $859,645, while B.C. fell from about $1 million to $946,000 — other markets saw increases such as Alberta. That province saw an average increase of about $25,000 and Quebec rose by $50,000. Even at a more city level, Moore notes some cities saw price increases even if the average provincial price dropped. The Vancouver Island region saw prices increase by 3.1 per cent and the Ottawa region saw an estimated 1.1-per cent rise. Story continues below advertisement So what does that mean if you're planning to sell your property? What are the keys to selling right now? Moore told Global News while it can be difficult to predict exactly when the best time to sell will be, there are things homeowners can do including looking at the current situation in their market. He says sellers must look to the 'three Ps': price, promotion and product. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy This means ensuring your property is staged well and has good photos in the listing, while also promoting the home through both realty services like the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and social media. In addition, listing it for the right price is important as Moore notes if you're listed $10,000 above what it's worth, people won't show up. 'If you've got a great product and you're priced consciously, it may be a good time,' he said. 'It's really important that people set their home up for success.' Story continues below advertisement 'If they're prepared to be able to go through it and the market's not flooded, it's still a good time, there's still buyers out there,' he said. If people are thinking of the right season to sell, Moore added fall could be the right time as summer often sees a lag in sales, while autumn is a time when people are trying to get things done before the winter holidays. 1:43 Should home prices go down? 'No,' says Canada's new housing minister A recent report from RBC showed that while Canadian home prices continue to slide, there is a stabilization occurring with national home resales in April down only 0.1 per cent from March, compared to a sharp cumulative 19-per cent decrease in the prior four months. 'The U.S. administration's decision to spare Canada from additional tariffs last month could boost confidence and attract buyers in coming months,' said RBC chief economist Robert Hogue in the report. Story continues below advertisement Andrew Lis, director of economics at Greater Vancouver Realtors, said determining when to sell can require weighing what makes the most sense. 'It depends on an individual's financial situation and so on,' he said. 'If you are say a seller that's comfortably housed and you've got a place that you've lived in for some long period of time and you're looking to make a move, well, you're going to be competing with a lot of other sellers in the market. So you're going to have to have some realistic price expectations. However, Toronto-based realtor Melanie Piche told Global News it can be difficult to wait to sell especially if dealing with financial stress. 'Depending how much equity you have in your property and how important it is to you, to me: if you have to sell, you need to be on the market and it's not a terrible market if you price yourself properly,' she said. Piche added those who have owned their property for a long time who expect to get a lot of money for their property, however, may find it better to wait, since many buyers want price flexibility. Home owners should take into account the reasons why they want to sell when deciding whether to wait or sell now, according to Tony Tintinalli, Bank of Montreal head of specialized sales Story continues below advertisement 'It really is about, why do you need to move? Like if there's a timeline and a decision, then accelerating that is really going to be dependent,' he said. 'You can try to play the market and you can, you try to study it as much as you can, but ultimately, what is the goal here? If you need to be somewhere, then getting going on it is probably the best way to think about it.' It's why he noted it can be wise to work with an expert like a realtor to better understand the market and how to sell your property, as opposed to waiting and jumping in when you think it's right. Condo market in 'big trouble': realtor Realtors add that single-family homes appear to be seeing higher demand compared with multi-unit options like condominiums, which means those condo owners are having more difficulty selling. Story continues below advertisement 'The condo market is in big trouble,' Moore said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The condo market is in big trouble," Moore said. 'The biggest reason why is because the majority of these condos that have been built over the last decade have been, for lack of a better term or marketing term, like a dog crate condo so 500 square feet or less.' The RBC report showed condos were leading the price decline, with Toronto's MLS home price index down 7.3 per cent annually, with Vancouver's down two per cent. 'Rising inventories have shifted market dynamics decisively in buyers' favour throughout Ontario and B.C., creating some of the most buyer-friendly conditions in decades,' said Hogue. Piche highlighted that the uncertainty caused by tariffs and interest rates to nine months worth that would take the same amount of time to sell. 2:08 Metro Vancouver condos sitting empty amid housing crisis The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board in their April report showed sales for a condo apartment dropped by 30 per cent year-over-year in April. The Greater Vancouver Realtors also showed significant decline compared to last year, with condos seeing a 20-per cent drop in sales. Story continues below advertisement The biggest buyers of those condos have been investors and first-time home buyers, Piche noted, but added the uncertainty has 'scared off' the two primary buying groups for the condos. For Piche, when to sell really depends on your current situation. 'I think the question is less about what month should you list in but what is that strategy behind it in terms of pricing and what your needs are,' Piche said. 'If you're happy to stay somewhere for five years or three years then, you know what, you can hold on and wait … But if you need to sell, I think it's incredibly risky to be waiting because we just don't know.' But Moore paints a potentially starker picture for condo owners. 'People think, well, I'll wait until the fall to sell my condo, it's not going to be any better,' he said. 'It's not going to be better for 2026, it's not going to get any better for 2027. The condo prices are already inflated, you just need to take the loss if you're selling and move on.' —with files from Global News' Uday Rana and Ariel Rabinovitch
France 24
20-05-2025
- Climate
- France 24
Record May heat scorches north, central China
China has endured spates of extreme weather events, from searing heat and drought to downpours and floods, for several summers running. The country is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, but also a renewable energy powerhouse seeking to cut carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2060. State broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday that multiple cities logged all-time May highs this week. They included Zhengzhou, a metropolis of 13 million people in central Henan province, which saw a high of 41C on Monday, CCTV said. In nearby Linzhou, temperatures rose to 43.2C, while the small city of Shahe in northern Hebei province logged 42.9C, the national weather office said in a social media post on Monday. As of 4:00 pm on Monday, 99 weather stations nationwide had matched or exceeded previous temperature records for May, the weather office said. "(It's so hot) in Zhengzhou that I'm covered in sweat just from cycling for 10 minutes in a skirt and sun-protective top," one user wrote on the Weibo social media platform. "Any chance you could send a few degrees up to the northeast? It's still freezing here," quipped another. The weather office said the extreme heat was set to dissipate by Friday, adding that some areas would see rapid drops of up to 15C. It urged people to "add extra layers of clothing in a timely way as the weather changes, (to avoid) catching a cold". Last year, dozens of people were killed and thousands evacuated during storms across China that caused severe flooding. China is the biggest global producer of the greenhouse gases scientists say drive climate change and make extreme weather more frequent and intense. Beijing aims to bring carbon emissions to a peak this decade ahead of sharp cuts through to 2060, and has dramatically ramped up wind and solar energy installations in recent years as it seeks to wean its huge economy off highly polluting coal. Emissions peaking? China's emissions fell in the first quarter of 2025 despite rapidly growing power demand, analysis published last week showed, seen as a key milestone in the country's decarbonisation push. New wind, solar and nuclear capacity meant CO2 emissions fell by 1.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, and one percent in the 12 months to March, said analyst Lauri Myllyvirta at the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Last month, China's national energy body said wind and solar energy capacity had surpassed that of mostly coal-powered thermal for the first time. It added that wind and solar additions had "far exceeded" the total increase in electricity consumption, a trend that experts said may mean carbon emissions from the power sector are on the verge of peaking. Despite the renewable energy boom, China also began construction on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power projects in 2024, 93 percent of the global total, according to a February report from CREA and the US-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
