A planned $2bn deal between Rosneft and oil trader Vitol has been shelved, in the latest sign that tougher western sanctions are hampering the Russian state oil group’s ambitions.

俄罗斯石油公司(Rosneft)与石油交易商维多(Vitol)的一笔20亿美元交易计划已被搁置，这是西方制裁升级正在阻碍这家俄罗斯国有石油企业实现雄心的最新迹象。

Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, had been in talks to raise about $2bn from US and European banks to make an advance payment to Rosneft in exchange for future oil supplies. The talks were first reported by the Financial Times in March.

世界第一大独立石油交易商维多此前一直在展开谈判，以求从美国和欧洲的银行筹集约20亿美元、用作支付给俄罗斯石油的预付款，以换取未来石油供应。有关这些谈判的消息最早在今年3月由英国《金融时报》报道。

However, two people familiar with the matter said that since the last round of sanctions in July the deal had been shelved. One person described the deal as “dead”.

然而，两名知情人士表示，自7月的最新一轮制裁出台以来，这一交易已被搁置。其中一人称，这笔交易已经“完了”。

Successive rounds of western sanctions in response to Moscow’s failure to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine have triggered a sharp outflow of capital and hurt the already struggling Russian economy.

西方针对莫斯科未能缓解乌克兰紧张局势而推出的一系列制裁，已导致俄罗斯出现严重资本外流，打击了本已在挣扎的俄罗斯经济。

The failure of the Rosneft-Vitol deal is a sign that July’s sanctions, which limit the ability of Rosneft and Novtek, the second largest gas producer, to raise long-term capital, are discouraging western groups from striking new “prepayment” deals. These have become the backbone of Rosneft’s financing in the past two years.

俄罗斯石油与维多的交易被搁置是个信号，显示7月的制裁正打击西方企业与俄罗斯达成新的“预付款”协议的意愿。在过去两年里，预付款协议已成为俄罗斯石油的主要融资方式。7月的制裁还限制了俄罗斯石油和俄罗斯第二大天然气生产商Novtek筹集长期资本的能力。

One banker said that even though prepayment deals would not directly fall foul of US sanctions, banks were fearful of being seen to help Russian companies sidestep them. Vitol and Rosneft declined to comment.

一名银行家表示，尽管此类预付款协议不会直接违反美国的制裁规定，但银行不愿给人留下协助俄罗斯企业绕过制裁的印象。维多和俄罗斯石油拒绝置评。

Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s powerful chief executive, last week called on Moscow to help offset the impact of western measures, by for example, buying Rbs1.5tn ($42bn) of its debt.

俄罗斯石油掌握实权的首席执行官伊戈尔•谢钦(Igor Sechin)上周呼吁莫斯科方面采取措施，帮助该公司抵挡西方制裁造成的影响，比如从它手中购买1.5万亿卢布（合420亿美元）的公司债券。

Rosneft’s net debt was close to Rb1.5tn at the end of June, of which Rb1.1tn must be repaid by the end of next year.

截至6月底，俄罗斯石油的净债务接近1.5万亿卢布，其中有1.1万亿卢布需在明年底之前得到偿付。