No Oil Discount for Indonesia, Russian Ambassador Says Prices Could Be Higher

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Indonesia, Sergei Gennadievich Tolchenov, emphasised that there is no such thing as discounts in the oil business as applied by Russia in the near future.

This was stated by Sergei, reiterating the statement of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Alexander Novak, regarding the energy cooperation that Russia will undertake.

Sergei even mentioned that prices could be even higher than market prices due to geopolitical conditions and the increasing bargaining power of energy from crude oil.

“Deputy Prime Minister Mr Novak, who handles energy cooperation, said, ‘there are no discounts now. Sometimes there are even premium prices (higher),’” said Sergei when met at the Radio Sonora office in Jakarta on Thursday (16/4/2026).

At that time, said Sergei, it was a difficult period, so Russia provided substantial discounts to countries interested in cooperating in the energy sector.

“Now, after February this year, the situation has changed,” he stated.

Now, many countries want discounted prices to obtain oil from Russia. Sergei referred to it as “friendship prices”.

Therefore, he emphasised that there are no “friendship prices” in the world of business.

“This is a market economy, there are no friends in business,” Sergei concluded.

Regarding Russia’s readiness to sell oil to Indonesia, Sergei assured that his country has given the green light.

This includes Western countries like Europe and other friendly nations.

“If they are serious, if they want to have long-term contracts and buy aged oil, even for them (Western countries), we are ready to supply. That’s not a problem, we are a very responsible and sustainable resource supplier,” he said.