Study: EU, Australia and developed G7 countries continue to indirectly import Russian oil

Western countries that have largely banned imports of oil from Russia imported €42 billion (CZK 985.8 billion) worth of petroleum products from countries that, by contrast, increased their imports of Russian oil in the year after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. The EU, Australia and most economically developed G7 countries therefore continue to indirectly import Russian oil. The Finnish Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) highlighted this in its report today.

The Finnish centre says in its report that countries that continue to import Russian oil subsequently sell petroleum products to countries that have imposed sanctions on Russian oil to limit Russia’s revenues from fossil fuel exports. However, although countries that have imposed sanctions have reduced their direct imports of oil from Russia, they have sharply increased imports of refined petroleum products from the largest importers of Russian oil.

According to CREA, five countries act as a laundromat for Russian oil for states that are restricting imports of Russian oil: China, India, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. In the year after the invasion began, the volume of Russian oil imports to these countries increased by 140 percent compared with the previous 12 months before the invasion. Their total imports were worth €74.8 billion over the 12 months, accounting for 70 percent of Russia’s total oil exports.