Russia’s leading tanker group Sovcomflot said western sanctions and changing market conditions may cut its revenues this year, a rare admission from a major Russian business of the damage western restrictions against Moscow are having.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot, which was previously one of the world’s leading tanker operators, in February, in an attempt to reduce Russia’s revenues from oil sales that it can use to support its military actions in Ukraine.

“The main reasons are that the company is under relentless sanctions pressure, which makes it difficult to work,” the Interfax news agency quoted Sovcomflot CEO Igor Tonkovidov as saying at St Petersburg economic forum.

“In addition, the market has changed, which has affected the level of competition and the level of freight rates.”

“There are always problems because of sanctions, in all areas. It definitely makes operations more difficult,” he told Reuters.

Sovcomflot’s revenue in 2023 was $2.3 billion, 22.6% higher than in 2022. Tonkovidov did not give an indication of how much its revenue may fall this year.

Sanctions were impacting 8% of tankers involved in shipping Russian oil, Tonkovidov said in April this year.

Source: Reuters reported by Olesya Astakhova and Gleb Stolyarov written by Gleb Stolyarov and edited by Alexander Marrow and Christina Fincher