An analyst with the German Science and Politics Foundation is projecting that Russia will see the highest gas profits in history for 2022 despite sanctions from the U.S. and Western powers.

“Almost half of the Russian budget is based on transactions with oil and gas. The state earns enormously from production taxes and export duties,” said Janis Kluge, a researcher who studies primarily Eurasia-based economics.

“It receives the income in rubles, and the amount is determined by two factors: firstly, by energy prices on the world market and, secondly, by the exchange rate of the ruble,” Kluge added.

Kluge believes that the sanctions are backfiring and actually causing Russia to make additional profits considering the West cannot afford to deny their energy exports.