Russia’s dependence on oil prices may threaten national security – official

Nikolay Patrushev file photo

(Interfax – February 25, 2015)

Moscow, 25 February: Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev thinks that the aim of the Western sanctions is to put pressure on the development of Russia’s mineral resource base, while Russia’s dependence on oil and gas prices may pose a threat to its national security.

“The aim of the sanctions is to put pressure on the development and reproduction of the Russian mineral resource base, to reduce our main competitive advantage, including in the most promising Arctic region,” Patrushev said during a visiting session in Khanty-Mansiysk on Wednesday [25 February].

“Russia’s dependence on foreign economic situation, in the first place in the global oil and gas markets, may pose a threat to Russia’s national security,” Patrushev was quoted as saying by the press service of the Russian Security Council to Interfax.

According to the press service, one of the topics discussed at the meeting in Khanty-Mansiysk was the development of measures to neutralize threats to energy security and to combat criminal activities in the energy sector of the Urals Federal District.

“A topic of discussion was the use by a number of states of sanctions against Russia in the energy sector to limit the access of Russian companies to the latest technologies in geological exploration as well as deep and complex processing of extracted raw materials,” the press service said.

[featured image is file photo]

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