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June 6, 2022
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- EU sanctions do not work in the case of transport
Russian oil seam
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- This is denounced by the British newspapers "The Independent"
and "The Sunday Times"
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 "An oil embargo must be an embargo.
oil, and this is not an oil embargo."
The statement is by Anastassia Fedyk, professor of
Finance at the University's Haas School of Business
Californian from Berkeley and member of The International Working
Group on Russian Sanctions at Stanford University as well as
co-founder of the collective Economists for Ukraine. Words that are
were picked up by the British newspaper "The Independent"
to corroborate the arguments of its own article yesterday by the
Title "European shipping companies make fun of themselves
of sanctions on Russia as they double the loads
oil" in which it denounces itself as the European industry of
shipping would be circumventing the sanctions by increasing the activity
with Russia and at the same time profits. To criticize the work
of European shipowners is also an article of yesterday of the
British periodical "The Sunday Times" which, referring
the activity of transhipment of Russian oil from Russian ships to
European ships, headlined: "Greek shipping companies
they profit by masking the transport of Russian oil."-
- The accusation made against European shipowners by the two newspapers of the
United Kingdom is not only to evade the provisions
of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, measures taken
from the European Union following the invasion by the troops
of Moscow of the territory of Ukraine launched last February 24,
but above all to circumvent the sanctions with the aim of making
even more money.
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- The analysis of "The Independent" focuses
especially on the non-prohibition imposed on flag ships
of the European Union to transport Russian oil. It is true that
the sixth package of sanctions includes provisions on
transport of oil according to which, 'at the end of a
six-month transition period, EU operators will be
prohibited insuring and financing the transport of oil to countries
third parties, in particular through sea routes.' However
beyond the transition semester, placed in these terms
the ban does not seem at all difficult to circumvent so much so that "The
Independent" noted that, "after the pressures of
maritime nations of Greece, Malta and Cyprus, registered ships
in the EU they will be able to continue to transport oil from Russian ports
to non-EU countries. This means that EU companies
will be able to continue to benefit from facilitating the
transfer of Russian oil to countries such as India and China
which have proved to be available buyers of the crude oil which
Europe no longer wants to."
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- Referring to the findings of an organization report
non-governmental Global Witness, "The Independent" has
highlighted that since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war the three
Major European shipping nations - Greece, Cyprus and Malta - have
rapidly increased the amount of Russian oil
transported: in February, when Putin's troops invaded
Ukraine - explained the newspaper - companies and ships
connected to the three nations transported 31 million barrels of
Russian oil; in May this figure jumped to 58 million
of barrels. In total - the newspaper announced - since February the
ships connected to Greece, Malta and Cyprus carried 178 million
of barrels for a value, at current prices, of 17.3 billion
Russian oil dollars. At the beginning of the war - specified
also "The Independent" - the ships related to these
Countries transported just over a third of exports
of Russian oil, while in May this figure jumped to
just over half.
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- In this regard, "The Independent" reported the
comment by Fedyk. "The EU - said the professor -
has a leverage on Russia given by the inelasticity of the
energy supplies: for Russia - he explained - it is
difficult and expensive to direct one's energy elsewhere.
Allowing SHIPS flying the EU flag to carry
Russian oil - he denounced - therefore only undermines power
EU contract'. "Ordinary citizens of countries
Europeans - fedyk pointed out - paid more for the
Russian oil without actually punishing Russia, indeed
increasing only the revenue of Russia with the entry into the war,
something that the Russian Ministry of Finance has openly discussed
boasted."
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- "Ships connected to Greece, Cyprus and Malta -- he said
in no uncertain terms Louis Goddard, senior advisor to Global
Witness - are making fun of the EU's effort to
sanction Putin's war machine by maintaining the flow of
money to Russia as the country's armed forces continue to
hit Ukraine. To block these loopholes - he urged
Goddard - the EU must resolutely resist everyone's pressure
Member States with deep-rooted interests in oil trade
with Russia and placing restrictions on maritime transport at the
the centre of its sanctions regime'.
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- The complaint of "The Sunday Times" is instead
focused mainly on the transhipment activities of
Russian oil that - according to the weekly - would be underway between
Russian ships and Greek ships, a practice that has already been done for some time
appeal with the aim of circumventing sanctions. In particular, the
British periodical has dwelt on this type of
activities that would be underway in the Russian port of Kavkaz,
on the Kerc Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The "The
Sunday Times" cited as an example the case of the tanker
Russian Vladimir Monomakh who entered that port
last March where he would have transferred his cargo on the
tanker MR Minerva Emily owned by the Greek
Minerva Marine and Maltese flag, operation that the periodical
British highlighted having taken place in the light of the sun and
realized - it must be added - when still the last package
of EU sanctions had not yet been adopted.
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