UK warns of Russia's 'ghost fleet' to avoid Western sanctions

Despite the West's cooperation in imposing economic sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine, Moscow has increased its means of circumventing them, thanks mainly to a “ghost fleet of oil tankers”, according to a UK parliamentary report published this Wednesday (31, Tuesday night). in Brasilia).

“We are concerned by increasing evidence that Russia has been able to evade sanctions, mainly through ghost ships from third countries and tankers,” said the European Affairs Committee of the House of Lords, which was responsible for writing the report.

The commission notes that “the United Kingdom and its allies must take decisive action” on the matter.

Western countries have adopted a number of sanctions to undermine Russia's oil revenues, including an oil embargo, a ceiling on Russian oil prices, a ban on maritime transport (trade, cargo, carrier services) to companies based in the EU and G7 and Australia. , insurance, etc.) and a similar mechanism for petroleum products.

To avoid these obstacles, Moscow has reduced its dependence on Western maritime services, building a “ghost fleet” of cargo ships, buying old boats for which it provides its own insurance services, the report points out.

According to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), “179 tankers full of Russian ghost fleet left Russian ports in November 2023.”

In October this year, about 2.3 million barrels of oil per day and 800,000 barrels of oil products per day were exported, thanks to this ghost fleet, KSE reported in its “Russian Oil Tracker” report, published in December 2023.

Furthermore, the parliamentary report “points to gaps and failures caused by differences between sanctions regimes, which weaken their effectiveness” and insists that “they should be limited as much as possible”.

© Agence France-Presse

January 31, 2024 00:17