OREANDA-NEWS  Russia has lost trillions of dollars by underestimating the value of Russian oil and petroleum products, resulting from the opaque calculation of quotes from international price agencies, said Igor Artemyev, head of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange.

Quotes for Russian oil are calculated by international price agencies based on surveys of traders who trade it. According to Artemyev, this method is not transparent, despite the fact that the methods of calculating quotations are public.

"I am convinced that back in Soviet times and now Russia has lost not billions, but trillions of dollars by underestimating the value of Russian oil and petroleum products. For many decades, it was just a trend, and we were told that something was taking shape in global markets. I think that here, given the opacity (of calculating quotes - ed.), there are very serious conditions for manipulation," Artemyev believes.