Under Liberian flags. Despite sanctions, russia delivers oil to EU ports – OCCRP
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The investigation by Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that a russian state-backed shipping company sanctioned by the U.S. and EU in February continues to deliver crude oil to European ports. The investigative journalists came to this conclusion by analyzing the company records and live ship tracking shows, occrp.org writes.
“Oil tankers owned by russia’s state-backed fleet operator Sovcomflot are still delivering to ports in Europe and earning moscow much-needed foreign currency, despite Western sanctions aimed at limiting imports of russian crude oil”, the journalists stress.
According to the experts interviewed by journalists, the company disguised its ownership of the vessels by basing subsidiaries in Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates and sailing under Liberian flags.
The U.S. and EU imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot in February. OCCRP identified more than 18 Sovcomflot tankers, named in a list of vessels in Sovcomflot’s 2020 financial records, which have been crossing the world’s oceans in the past month. Each is carrying on average over $240 million worth of fuel. Their movements can be followed in real time on a marine traffic tracking website.
Once the sanctions came into full effect, some of these ships switched off their location transponders, meaning they cannot be tracked.
Among the Sovcomflot tankers that did not turn off their trackers, one was recorded heading for the U.S. in early May before being rerouted to South Africa and quickly renamed. OCCRP has tracked at least five others recently coming from, en route to or in docks in Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands, even after EU sanctions came into full effect.
It is not clear who is buying the oil delivered by Sovcomflot.
Sovcomflot and operators at these ports have avoided triggering sanctions because the ships are sailing under Liberian flags while the company runs operations through subsidiaries in Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) . The Sovcomflot subsidiary that directly owns the vessels is based in the UAE as well, though it is owned by the russian state.
Professor Ricardo Soares, a specialist in international politics and financing based at Oxford University, said that by appearing to be based in the UAE and renaming its fleet, Sovcomflot was able to continue earning foreign currency that russia desperately needs as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.
He added that it is almost impossible to track the ownership back to russia, especially as Sovcomflot is switching ship names and apparently turning off GPS tracking in certain countries. He also explained that “sailing ships under Liberia’s flag was a straightforward way to disguise the tankers’ origin”.
The EU’s press office did not respond to questions about how Sovcomflot could still access EU ports despite the sanctions.
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