According to an internal document prepared for the Russian government, Russia halted natural-gas flows to Europe due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Most of Russia's exports go to Europeans. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Europe bought half of Russia's oil products and three-quarters of its natural gas in the year 2020.
Russian natural-gas production would have to fall because of a fall in exports to Europe. According to the report, this would hurt Moscow's plans to increase domestic gas supplies.
According to Russia's internal report, a complete halt in natural-gas supplies to Europe could cost the Kremlin as much as 400 billion rubles. New markets will not be able to replace lost sales from European customers in the medium term.
As Europe is set to ban most Russian oil imports from the end of 2022, the demand slump could lead to a deep cut in Russian production, which could cause a shortage of the fuel domestically, according to an internal report.
The internal Russian report paints a gloomy picture of the country's economy, which is contrasted with more positive data from the Kremlin in recent months.
If the world goes into a recession, the situation will get worse. Russia would become a "swing supplier" of energy products if it lost its stable European market.
According to the report, a plunge in demand for Russian oil products could have an adverse economic impact, such as pushing up inflation and putting downward pressure on the ruble.
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