In June 2025, oil and gas revenues of the Russian budget fell below the 500 billion ruble mark for the first time since January 2023, amounting to 494.8 billion. Compared to the same period last year, revenues decreased by a third, rosZMI reports.
The reasons were the drop in oil prices and the strengthening of the ruble. For the first half of the year, revenues amounted to 4.73 trillion rubles — 18% less than in January-June 2024. The decline was recorded even compared to May, when receipts amounted to 512.7 billion, despite the increase in world oil prices. According to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in June the average price of Urals oil rose to $59.84 per barrel compared to $52.08 in May, but the impact of the strong ruble outweighed the positive price dynamics.
In view of the strengthening of the national currency and the decrease in energy prices, the Russian government was forced to revise the budget indicators, reducing the planned oil and gas revenues by 2.6 trillion rubles to 8.3 trillion. At the same time, the budget deficit was increased more than three times — to 3.8 trillion rubles, which corresponds to 1.7% of GDP. In the government and business circles of the Russian Federation, the number of votes in favor of weakening the ruble is increasing, but the state currently has no real levers of influence on its exchange rate.
Due to the lack of expected revenues, the Ministry of Finance of Russia will not buy currency and gold from the National Welfare Fund for the second month in a row in July, but on the contrary – will sell 18.8 billion rubles per month, which further strengthens the ruble.
We will remind you that on June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to the federal budget for 2025, which provide for a significant decrease in the forecast for oil and gas revenues and a reduction in financing of key economic projects.
