Oil embargo, capping the price of Russian crude, ban on providing services enabling the maritime transport of oil: for two years, the United States, alongside Western countries, have imposed a series of sanctions against the windfall of oil exports from Russia in order to prevent the Kremlin from financing its war in Ukraine. But faced with attempts to divert sanctions from the Russian authorities, Joe Biden announced, Friday February 23, a new round of measures.
These decisions come in a context of stagnation in the conflict, while the Ukrainian army is in difficulty on the front after the failure of its counter-offensive last spring, and international military support is eroding, the States- United being divided in Congress on new financial aid to kyiv.
An opaque system for circumventing sanctions
In order to make sanctions against Russian oil more effective, the United States now wants to attack the “ghost fleet” set up by Moscow to transport its cargoes by boat. This means commercial vessels which are not owned by G7 or EU countries, or which do not use P&I insurance (an insurance specific to maritime transport which provides unlimited compensation for damage to third parties). ), according to the definition of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).
Moscow, with this maneuver, is trying to make the origin of the boats transporting Russian oil more opaque. The real ownership of ships is often difficult to determine, due to unclear origins of companies and intermediaries complicating the task. These ships also present a risk to maritime security, as the liners used are often dilapidated and do not signal their presence at sea by GPS so as not to be spotted.
14 oil tankers targeted
The United States has blacklisted 14 oil tankers used by Russia. The sanctions announced in a US Treasury statement target Russian national shipping company Sovcomflot, giving it 45 days to unload oil or other cargo from the 14 vessels.
In total, in its January “Russian Oil Tracker” report, the Ukrainian economic institute KSE, based in Kiev, indicates that “196 oil tankers” loaded with black gold “left Russian ports in December 2023” and that “the Shipping companies based in the United Arab Emirates constitute the heart of the Russian ghost fleet. Additionally “the first three flags of the ships of the Russian Ghost Fleet […] are Panama, Liberia and Gabon,” notes the institute.
This Saturday, February 24, the number two of the Russian Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, swore that his country will take revenge for Western sanctions. The ex-president, accustomed to belligerent declarations, also called for secret operations to be carried out on the territories of Western countries, while Russia is already regularly accused of espionage and influence operations. and assassinations or attempted assassinations. Moscow systematically denies them.