Five countries that are not subject to Western sanctions are “laundering” Russian oil and re-exporting it around the world, including where there is an embargo on energy supplies from Russia and restrictions on their prices. Such conclusions do Finnish Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA).
They note that after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russian oil, they dramatically increased their imports of petroleum products from certain states – those that became Russia’s largest oil importers after the outbreak of hostilities. in Ukraine.
CREA cites five of these countries which, according to Center experts, “launder” Russian oil:
China, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore.
The CREA report shows that offshore imports of Russian crude oil to these five countries by volume since the start of the military operation in Ukraine have increased by 140% (or 182% in value) compared to the previous 12 months – and they have accounted for 70% of Russia’s total crude oil exports after February 24, 2022.
Since the end of February 2022, the EU, G7 and Australia have increased the volume of petroleum products imported from China by 94%, India by 2%, Turkey by 43%, the United Arab Emirates by 23% and of Singapore by 33%. %. Exports of petroleum products from the five listed countries to countries where Russian oil prices are limited increased by 80% in value and 26% in physical terms, while to other countries – by only 2%.
The CREA describes these schemes as a “serious flaw” in the sanctions regime. Center for Energy analyst and report co-author Isaac Levy told Asia Times that the EU oil embargo and price cap, introduced in December and February respectively, cost Moscow about 160 million euros ($175.3 million) per day.
However, according to him, these measures were designed “with caution” – to ensure access of Russian oil to world markets in order to reduce prices and avoid supply disruptions. “Now that the bans are in place, Russia’s revenue is starting to pick up,” Levy said.
In April 2023, CREA reported that since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Russia has almost doubled its income from oil, coal and gas exports to EU countries. CNN, citing sources, says a shadow tanker fleet has been created to trade Russian oil and petroleum products under sanctions. Most of them, according to the Financial Times, are outdated.
Bloomberg clarified that a complex scheme was used to register these ships, which made it possible to hide the true owners. International insurance companies dealing with this type of transport warn that any accident of a “ghost fleet” tanker could turn into an environmental disaster.
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