May 2022, a cargo of oil leaves the Russian port of Tuapse on the Black Sea. A few weeks later, the fuel arrived at its destination: Immingham, on England’s northeast coast. “However, relief Sunday Times, according to official statistics, there were no imports of Russian oil in June this year. And without any reporting rules having been violated.”
Because between May 6 and June 4, the cargo was transferred to another ship off the Greek port of Kalamata. This type of operation, already used by Iran and Venezuela to circumvent embargoes, “has risen sharply since the start of the war in Ukraine”, specifies the weekly London on the background of sanctions and boycott of Russian products. Mixed with other barrels, the hydrocarbon thus becomes more difficult to identify.
And a loophole in UK law allows the tracks to be muddled a little more. “Although all provenance information is collected by UK Customs, the origin of an import is officially established through the country of dispatch and not the country where the goods were produced, noticed Sunday Times. For example, a container of products made in China but exported to the UK by a German company may be labeled as German.”
An in-depth study of the data provided by the authorities has enabled the journalist Laith Al-Khalaf since March 39 to identify oil shipments that have come from Russia but classified as coming from another country, often the Netherlands, Belgium or even France. Worth 200 million pounds (230 million euros), while total Russian hydrocarbon imports amounted to 778 million pounds (893 million euros) in the same period.
Imports of Russian oil will become illegal in the UK from 5 December. “But until then, companies that openly acquire Russian oil are still putting their reputations on the line.”