Despite the imposed sanctions , Russian oil continues to enter the west markets, in particular, the UK market. However, this is already in the form of petroleum products, thanks to the complex scheme of supply through oil refining plants, which causes increased global demand for Russian oil. In addition, Russia uses the so -called "shadow fleet" of tankers, which now moves under the flag of Gabon.
According to BBC, the principle of this scheme is that Russian oil is processed in third countries, for example, in India , and then ready -made petroleum products are exported to the UK. This approach is legitimate because the rules of oil refining allows the products made from Russian crude oil into the territory of Britain.
However, critics of this scheme claim that it violates sanctions aimed at limiting the military budget of Russia. The CREA Energy Research Center has explained that "Lazivka in Oil Refining" allows countries that did not impose sanctions on Russia, process its oil and export products to the countries that imposed sanctions.
Over the past year, about 5.2 million barrels of petroleum products produced from Russian raw oil have been imported before the UK , which allowed Russia to earn more than £ 100 million in tax sterling.
However, such supply of petroleum products emphasize the difficult situation in which the United Kingdom is. On the one hand, the government criticizes Russia's military aggression, and on the other - continues to buy Russian oil, which helps the Kremlin to finance its hostilities.
In addition, to bypass the sanctions, Russia uses a shadow fleet of tankers that move under the flag of Gabon. This strategy avoids oil transportation restrictions, but at the same time increases the risks to safety and ecology.
