The Times: Putin’s fleet to fund the Ukraine war

The Times published a report on how Russian President Vladimir Putin financed his war in Ukraine through what it calls the “shadow oil fleet”.

Mark Bennetts wrote, Russia is seeking to build a “shadow fleet” of oil tankers to boost exports to Asia and help compensate for Western sanctions aimed at crippling President Putin’s war machine.

An embargo imposed by the European Union banning Russian oil shipments came into force on Monday, and Western countries agreed last week to set a price ceiling of $60 a barrel for Russian crude and to impose penalties on companies that don’t comply.

Britain stopped importing Russian oil this summer.

The European ban means that the Kremlin is now focused on building energy relations with Asian countries.

China and India, ignoring the sanctions, were keen to seize Russian oil at a reduced price.

The challenge now for Russia is to transport enough oil by sea to Asia.

Analysis showed that Russia has bought more than 100 new tankers this year, mostly anonymously, as it looks to focus on the Asian market.

Andrei Kostin, a senior official at the Russian bank, said recently that Moscow would need to spend 1 trillion rubles (£12.9 billion) to expand its tanker fleet.

The oil ceiling is unlikely to have an immediate impact on Russia’s revenues because it was set roughly at the level that China and India pay for the country’s oil.

But Western sanctions will cut Russia off from most of the global tanker fleet because banks and other financial firms are barred from insuring ships carrying Russian oil unless it is sold according to a price cap.

The ban applies to any carrier, whatever its final destination.

The Kremlin has pledged that it won’t sell oil to any country that subsidizes the price ceiling.

About 20 oil tankers have been jammed off the coast of Türkiye in recent days, as ships passing through its strait demand proof that they are fully insured.