Russian oil appears to be continuing to arrive (almost) undisturbed in Europe, despite imports being banned by European Union sanctions. And all thanks to a trick: Moscow’s hydrocarbons would be transported to Turkish ports, where they would then be transferred to local ships and then resold as if they were Turkish. Vladimir Putin is reportedly using a loophole in Brussels sanctions that allows “blended” fuels to enter the EU if labeled as non-Russian. With the complicity of the country governed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The complaint comes from research conducted by Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Create) and from Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), according to which Ankara is helping the Kremlin protect its trade in fossil fuels, which constitutes almost half of its budget and is essential to cover the costs of the invasion of Ukraine.
This is how Putin’s “ghost fleet” circumvents oil sanctions
The numbers contained in the study by the two research centers show a surge in Turkey’s imports from Russia and a simultaneous increase in its exports to Europe. From the entry into force of Moscow’s oil sanctions on 5 February 2023 until the end of February 2024, the EU was reported to have imported 5.16 million tonnes of oil products worth 3.1 billion euros from three Turkish ports without refining hubs, Ceyhan, Marmara Ereğlisi and Mersin. Of course, this does not mean that every shipment of fuel arriving in the EU from Turkey has been Russian, Ankara has refineries that can process almost 1 million barrels of crude a day and the nation’s companies could also sell non-Russian fuel to Europe. But the geographical situation of several ports on the Anatolian peninsula, combined with the data on import-export, give rise to more than a few doubts.
Strange movements
According to the complaint of the two think tank in May 2023 alone, the Toros Ceyhan oil terminal in the Turkish port of Ceyhan reportedly received 26,923 tons of diesel fuel from Novorossiysk in Russia. And just ten days after the import, the terminal would have shipped a similar volume of diesel to the Moh refinery in Corinth in Greece. From a logistical point of view, a Russian ship leaving from Novorossiysk, a city on the Black Sea, only has to cross the latter then between the two straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus there is the port of Marmara Ereğlisi. After passing the straits in the Mediterranean there are then those of Mersine and Ceyhan. From all three, getting to Greece is very easy.
Strategic position
Turkey’s strategic position on the Black Sea has always allowed black gold traders to do business by importing petroleum products which can then be easily stored in terminals located in various ports in the country. These storage facilities have become a key staging point for the trade of Russian oil products globally, including to sanctioned regions such as the UK, US and EU, and particularly to major buyers in Greece , Italy, Spain, Romania and the Netherlands. But this route to Putin’s black gold should be prohibited. In June 2022, the EU adopted a sixth package of sanctions which, among other things, bans the purchase, import or transfer of crude oil and various petroleum products transported by sea from Russia to the EU.
Sanctions circumvented
The restrictions became operational starting from 5 December 2022 for crude oil and from 5 February 2023 for refined oil. It was from that period that purchases of Russian crude oil in Türkiye began to increase more and more. From February 5, 2023 until the end of February 2024, Turkey imported 17.6 billion euros of Russian petroleum products, an increase of 105% compared to the same period last year. Yet domestic consumption of petroleum products in Turkey grew by just 8% in 2023, a clear sign that most of Moscow’s hydrocarbons were transported from somewhere else.
In 2023, Turkey became the world’s largest buyer of Russian oil products and imported 18% of Moscow’s total exports. Ankara’s import boom followed an emerging global trend that sees countries that have not imposed sanctions such as India and China increasing purchases, taking advantage of the Federation’s availability of hydrocarbons at lower prices, with the Kremlin desperate to new markets. But in Türkiye, a crucial difference has been the rise of refined oil products rather than crude oil. In the same period, 11% (13 million tonnes) of the EU’s total imports of petroleum products came from Turkey: a 107% increase in volume compared to the previous year, the study highlights. Another clue that Turkey may not just import Russian oil for domestic consumption, but could act as a pit stop for Russian oil headed to EU and G7 countries.
