EU buys Russian oil under the guise of Turkish oil – Politico
16 May 2024 12:15
The European Union is using loopholes in sanctions legislation to buy Russian oil through Turkey. This is stated in the material of Politico, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"
According to research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), as well as independent reports, Russian oil is entering the EU via Turkey in large quantities. This is possible thanks to a loophole in Brussels’ sanctions that allows “mixed” fuel into the EU if it is labelled as non-Russian.
Studies show that this scheme has brought Moscow up to €3 billion from just three ports in the 12 months since the EU banned Russian fuel in February 2023.
“Turkey has become a strategic stopover for Russian fuel products being diverted to the EU, generating hundreds of millions in tax revenues for the Kremlin’s war chest,”
– said Martin Vladimirov, Senior Energy Analyst at CSD.
Between February 2023 and February 2024, Turkey increased its purchases from Russia by 105% compared to the previous 12 months. Over the same period, fuel exports from Turkey to the EU increased by 107%.
This does not mean that every fuel cargo that comes to the EU from Turkey is Russian. Turkey has refineries that can process almost 1 million barrels of crude oil per day. And Turkish firms are also likely to resell some of the non-Russian fuel to the EU. But the geographical location of several Turkish ports, combined with import and export data, strongly suggests that significant volumes of Russian fuel have simply been repackaged and transferred.
The growing trade comes amid deteriorating relations between the EU and Turkey over its pro-Russian measures, even as the country takes small steps to join US sanctions. Since the beginning of the war, Turkey has been a kind of oil and gas hub for Moscow.
“Between February 2023 and 2024, the port [Ceyhan] received approximately 22 million barrels of fuel, 92% of which came from Russia – three times more than it imported from Moscow the year before. Over the same period, 85% of fuel exports from the port went to the EU,”
– the newspaper writes.
The situation is very similar in other Turkish ports, which have seen an increase in Russian imports and a simultaneous increase in exports to the EU over the past year. Together, this indicates that most of the Russian fuel is being diverted to the EU market under a different brand.
“We need to tighten our grip and find ways to prevent sanctions circumvention. Third countries, especially our NATO allies [e.g. Turkey – ed,
– said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tahkna.
Who is to blame?
According to EU rules, cargoes containing Russian fuel mixed with products from other countries “may be subject to sanctions depending on the share of the Russian component”. Usually, this share is determined by whether the fuel has undergone a “substantial transformation”, becoming a completely new product, which, according to the data, did not happen in all Turkish ports.
But in practice, a document indicating the origin of the cargo, called a “certificate of origin”, is checked. Imports of fuel with Russian documents are mostly illegal, but after simply replacing the oil brand with a new Turkish certificate, the EU no longer has any complaints about the product.
A spokesperson for the European Commission refused to comment on specific cases, saying that the bloc’s countries should “implement and enforce EU sanctions”. So far, the European Union has tended to blame Turkey for this situation, but not its own governments that buy this oil.
