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Gazpromneft says it was ready for sanctions

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Russian insurer says move will damage maritime safety

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Economist says measures could impact production, dividends

(Adds insurer's statement paragraphs 5-8, economist reaction

9-10, background including earlier Kremlin comment)

MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russian oil producer

Gazpromneft shrugged off the impact of major new U.S.

sanctions on Friday, while insurance company Ingosstrakh said

they would create a market vacuum that would benefit less

reputable competitors.

The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden on Friday

imposed its broadest package of sanctions yet, targeting

Russia's oil and gas revenues in an attempt to give Kyiv and the

incoming administration of Donald Trump leverage to reach a deal

for peace in Ukraine. A U.S. official said the measures should

cost Russia billions of dollars a month.

Gazpromneft, also hit by British sanctions, said it would

continue to operate and maintain business resilience despite the

measures, which it called "unjustified, illegitimate and

contrary to the principles of free competition".

"Gazpromneft has been consistently preparing for various

negative sanctions scenarios over the past two years. In

addition, the company has already been under unilateral foreign

sanctions since 2022, so many such restrictions have already

been factored into operational processes," the company said in a

statement.

Ingosstrakh, a Russian insurance company that was also hit

by the U.S. move, said it was operating normally and fulfilling

all its obligations to clients.

"Coming in the waning days of the outgoing U.S.

administration, this decision undermines maritime safety,

environmental protections, and global shipping stability by

targeting a reputable and well-capitalized insurer," it said.

"Removing Ingosstrakh from the market creates a vacuum that

will inevitably be filled by fly-by-night insurers lacking the

capacity or intent to ensure compliance or pay claims."

Ingosstrakh said this dramatically heightened the risk of

environmental disasters such as oil spills, while shifting the

financial burden onto taxpayers when uninsured or underinsured

vessels failed to meet their obligations.

Russian economist Yevgeny Kogan said the sanctions could

force Gazpromneft to cut its production plans, and impact its

dividend payments.

He said they would also hit the export potential of oil

major Surgutneftegaz, the other main company to be targeted.

The U.S. move was expected by Moscow. Hours before it was

announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We

are aware that the (Biden) administration will certainly try to

leave the most burdensome legacy in terms of bilateral relations

to the incoming Trump and his associates. Well, in line with

these efforts, it is quite possible that another batch of

sanctions may be introduced."

President Vladimir Putin has often boasted of Russia's

resilience to sanctions imposed against it over the Ukraine war,

saying they have boomeranged on the Western economies that

applied them.