The European Union on Monday slapped sanctions on nine entities and individuals for supporting Russia’s shadow fleet moving oil, as the bloc seeks to further restrict Moscow’s ability to generate revenues from energy exports.
The Council of the EU sanctioned five individuals and four entities responsible for supporting Russia’s shadow fleet and its value chain.
The designated individuals are businessmen directly or indirectly linked to Rosneft and Lukoil, which were sanctioned by the United States in October as the White House sought to force the Kremlin to sit down for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
The individuals sanctioned by the EU today are all involved in an economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue to Russia’s government, the EU said. They also “control vessels transporting crude oil or petroleum products, originating in Russia or being exported from Russia, concealing the actual origin of the oil, while practicing irregular and high-risk shipping practices,” the bloc noted in a press statement.
The sanctioned individuals are Murtaza Lakhani, a Canadian-Pakistani oil trader, Valery Kildiyarov, finance director of Lukoil’s Litasco Middle East DMCC, and Anar Madatli, Talat Safarov, and Etibar Eyyub—shareholders and/or directors of 2Rivers Group, a UAE based oil-trading company previously known as Coral Energy.
The four entities included in the new sanctions are all shipping companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam, and Russia. These firms either own or manage tankers blacklisted by the EU or by other countries for being part of Russia’s shadow fleet.
UAE-based Nova Shipmanagement LLC-FZ and Citrine Marine SPC, Vietnam-registered Hung Phat Maritime Trading, and Russia-based SeverTransBunker Company Limited are the companies designated by the EU today.
The fresh EU sanctions come amid still chaotic trade with Russian crude after the U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil upended the buying plans and patterns of most Indian refiners.
Meanwhile, falling oil prices and strengthening Russian currency are set to slash Russia’s oil and gas revenues by nearly 50% in December from a year earlier, to the lowest level since August 2020, according to Reuters calculations.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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