Russian oil and gas exports help the Kremlin add $9.5 billion to an emergency fund as bailouts pile up amid Western sanctions

• Russia added $9.5 billion to its emergency fund on Thursday as the Kremlin tries to shield the economy from Western sanctions.
• The funds are drawn from profits from oil and gas exports, according to Reuters.

Russia added 551.4 billion rubles — about $9.5 billion — to its emergency reserve fund to help shield the economy from wartime sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Thursday.

According to the report, the funds came from the influx of profits Russia generated by oil and gas exports, which have continued to rake in money despite government sanctions and shunning by Western companies.

"The funds will be used in part to implement measures aimed at ensuring the stability of economic development in the conditions of external constraints," the government said in a statement.

Russia's coffers have been bolstered by a rally in oil prices, which could bring its oil and gas sales to a total of $285 billion this year, Bloomberg forecasts. That's 20% higher than the country's $235.6 billion takings from oil and gas in 2021.

Russia previously funneled its oil and gas profits into its $198 billion sovereign wealth fund. But sending them to the emergency fund, which received $13.56 billion in May, allows for more flexibility as the Kremlin is forced to prop up top companies.

Last month, the government poured $4 billion into Russian Railways, Russia's biggest employer, and committed $1.75 billion for state-owned airline Aeroflot.

Since Moscow launched its war on Ukraine February 24, Western nations have banded together to strike Russia with sweeping economic sanctions, including freezing hundreds of billions in foreign reserves and sanctioning high-profile individuals.

Experts expect a severe recession to cripple Russia's economy as a result of the sanctions, and the Institute of International Finance said it could erase 15 years' worth of economic progress.