No sanctions have been introduced in Ukraine against specific tankers used by the russian federation to circumvent Western sanctions in the oil trade. Russia has formed a powerful "shadow fleet" to avoid Western sanctions. Currently, the sanctions policy requires the introduction of sanctions against specific tankers that are involved in the export of oil to circumvent sanctions.
This is stated in the UNIAN investigation "Shadow fleet: How Russia circumvents Western oil sanctions".
According to journalists, despite numerous Western sanctions, russia continues to find ways to circumvent restrictions and maintain stable profits from oil exports. Even the country's largest shipping company, Sovcomflot, which published its financial results for the first half of 2024, was able to maintain its position, albeit with a decrease in indicators. The company's net income decreased by 34.7% to USD 323.8 million, and EBITDA fell by 32% to USD 591 million. Revenue decreased by 16.1% to USD 1.02 billion. These losses are due to the fact that part the company's vessels (up to 20) were under sanctions.
"In July, when key world figures began to raise this issue, the adviser to the head of the President's Office, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, stated on the air of a telethon that "the Russian shadow tanker fleet, which consists of about 400 vessels, can be reduced by strengthening environmental requirements."
About 50 vessels are already under sanctions, but this is not enough, as russia is quickly finding replacements. Vlasiuk noted that the introduction of new restrictions could reduce russia's income from the export of oil, which costs more than USD 60 per barrel.
On August 16, Vladyslav Vlasiuk was appointed the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine on Sanctions Policy. Since April 2022, he has held the position of secretary of the International Working Group on Sanctions Against russia (the so-called Yermak-McFaul Sanctions Group), which is headed by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak and former adviser to the President of the United States, Michael McFaul.
"Despite the fact that Ukraine should currently be most interested in blocking trade in Russian oil, we have not yet introduced sanctions against specific ships. At the same time, Ukraine has repeatedly received objections from Western partners that we, demanding from other countries to strengthen sanctions, do not introduce them ourselves," the authors note.
Recall that in July Britain introduced sanctions against 11 tankers from the "shadow fleet" of the russian federation. According to Reuters, sanctions against ships, including "Zaliv Amurskiy" and SKF "Pechora", are related to the transportation of oil or oil products from russia to third countries. It is noted that the vessels sail under the flags of Panama, Gabon and the Cook Islands.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury proposed imposing sanctions on the "shadow fleet" of russian tankers, but the White House expressed fears that these measures could lead to higher gasoline prices. Currently, there are 20 tankers under U.S. sanctions, which are part of the "shadow fleet" transporting russian oil at prices higher than the set limit of USD 60 per barrel. And the Ministry of Finance proposed to extend sanctions to the rest of the fleet, which could limit their sale or even force these vessels to be decommissioned, The New York Times reports. However, the president's economic advisers in the White House are concerned that such actions could provoke an increase in the price of gasoline in the United States, which in turn could negatively affect the election campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.
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