Russia's shadow fleet: today's sanctions fall short

To recap, Russia has found ways to bypass the price restrictions set by G7 countries, enabling it to secure higher profits from its oil exports.

• The European Union has finally noticed the "elephant in the room." David O'Sullivan, the EU Special Envoy for Sanctions, has pointed out that the use of a shadow fleet is a key factor allowing Russia to sidestep EU sanctions on maritime oil trade. This admission essentially acknowledges that current sanctions are not very effective, as the Russian shadow fleet continues to generate substantial profits. Recently, the EU has begun targeting individual tankers, rather than just the companies that own and operate them.
• Meanwhile, the situation is worsening. Sanctioned tankers are still transporting Russian oil, and Russia is increasing its use of sanctioned shadow fleet tankers to transport oil and oil products.

According to Bloomberg, the use of these vessels spiked in August and September. Some sanctioned tankers are anchored near Russian ports that handle oil shipments. By the end of September, the use of shadow fleet tankers is expected to rise even more, likely because Russia has been able to export oil more easily in recent months despite the sanctions.

Read also: Sanctions against Russia's "shadow fleet": underway, but insufficient

• Meanwhile, the Greek Navy is continuing military exercises near the Laconian Gulf until November 24 to stop oil transfers from sanctioned Russian tankers to other vessels. The Laconian Gulf has been a hotspot for these transfers. The exercises started in May, and Greek authorities noticed that sanctioned vessels began to avoid the area. Because of this, the exercises were extended several times to prevent sanctioned oil from being moved. However, these operations have shifted to other regions.

Recently, it was revealed that Russian tankers are still transferring oil off the southern coast of Greece, even with the military exercises happening. However, the scale of these operations is now smaller and less frequent.

This shows that the current sanctions against Russian oil are not enough.

Source

About the author. Andrian Prokip, energy analyst at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future.

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.