It shall not come as a surprise that Russia’s leading oil and gas companies are suffering amidst the market depression brought about by the SARS-COV-2. Most of the companies have been directly exposed to the risks of the coronavirus pandemic – be it Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, NOVATEK or LUKOIL, the spread of the disease spared no one and brought about unplanned changes to the rules of oil exploration and production. Yet only one company CEO got to meet the Russian President Vladimir Putin personally, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin. The Sechin-Putin May 12 meeting was of genuine interest as a platform to foreshadow such future developments as tax exemptions, a routine that has become already traditional when it comes to the state’s handling of Rosneft. Mr Sechin, one of the most vocal proponents of Russia leaving the OPEC+ production curtailment agreement, suggested that the Russian state ought to take measures […]