It might seem that the price cap on Russian oil, introduced in December, is working exactly as intended: oil is selling at a significantly discounted price, and Russian budget revenues are falling. However, the conditions of and mechanisms for the supply of Russian oil to Indian ports differ from those of former shipments to European ports. The price of oil in real contracts used to be somewhat transparent, but now the scope for independent evaluation has dissipated. The rates of delivery of Russian oil to Indian ports are unknown and opaque. It is for this reason that we cannot exclude the possibility that, in reality, the discounts on Russian oil are not as large as they seem, and, indeed, the low price in contracts may be beneficial to both Russian suppliers and the Russian government. In any case, the institutional environment of the Russian oil trade has changed dramatically, and it thus makes little sense to focus on previous assessment tools or benchmarks. They may imitate transparency, but they do not provide us with a clear picture. And if there is however some opacity, there will always be someone ready to take advantage of it.