Well into the second year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU, most of the G7 countries, and Australia have cracked down on their imports of Russian crude oil and oil products. At the same time, these countries, which are all part of the price-cap coalition whose objective is to limit Russia’s revenues from fossil fuel exports, have increased imports of refined oil products by leaps and bounds from the countries that have become the largest importers of Russian crude oil.
Archiv: Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)
A Price Cap Loophole Is Undermining Sanctions On Russian Oil
Europe has boosted imports of refined petroleum products from countries that have raised imports of Russian crude oil, as a major loophole in the sanctions risks undermining the effectiveness of the price cap and embargoes, a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed on Wednesday.
The EU, Australia, and most of the G7 countries have banned direct imports of Russian crude oil, but they have raised indirectly imports of Russian oil by purchasing higher volumes of oil products from countries that have become the biggest buyer of Russia’s crude, the Finland-based center said.
Financing Putin’s war: Fossil fuel exports from Russia in the first six months of the invasion of Ukraine
Key findings include:
Fossil fuels continue to fill Kremlin’s war chest, due to high prices
– Russia earned EUR 158 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports in the first six months of the war (February 24 to August 24). The EU imported 54% of this, worth approximately EUR 85 billion.
– Fossil fuel exports have contributed approximately EUR 43 billion to Russia’s federal budget since the start of the invasion, helping fund war crimes in Ukraine.
– The largest fossil fuel importer was the EU (EUR 85.1bln), followed by China (EUR34.9bln), Turkey (EUR10.7bln), India (EUR6.6bln), Japan (EUR2.5bln), Egypt (EUR2.3bln, and South Korea (EUR2bln).
– Surging fossil fuel prices mean that Russia’s current revenue is far above previous years’ level, despite the reductions in this year’s export volumes.
Studie: Moskaus Energieeinnahmen höher als Kriegskosten
Wie das in Finnland ansässige Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) heute mitteilte, betrugen die Einnahmen in dem Zeitraum umgerechnet 158 Milliarden Euro. Dem gegenüber stehen geschätzte Kriegskosten in Höhe von hundert Milliarden Euro.
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Diese zeigten, dass die EU mit 85 Milliarden Euro der größte Abnehmer der Lieferungen war, gefolgt von China mit 35 Milliarden Euro.