NEW DELHI: India’s state-run oil companies are examining the option of utilising about $600 million dividend income from investments in Russia to buy Russian oil as they are unable bring the money home due to western banking curbs on Moscow. “We are examining legal and financial implications of options to utilise the stranded money. We are mindful of the sanctions and do not want to do anything that may in any way amount to a breach,” one official in the know said on Thursday.
One of the options on the table is to loan the money lying in Russian bank accounts to entities buying oil. These entities could repay the loan in India. IndianOil and Bharat Petroleum, both public sector refiner-fuel retailers, are among the largest Indian buyers of Russian crude.
