Putin’s perfidious oil trick

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the West has known above all one response to this aggression by Putin in violation of international law: sanctions!

Besides the partial exclusion from the international payment system SWIFT, an oil embargo was decided and the oil price per barrel (159 liters) was capped at 60 dollars (56 euros). The idea behind it: Russia should not earn any additional revenue from the oil that the EU no longer buys. After all, once Europe had ceased to be a buyer of Russian oil, Putin sold more oil to other countries without further ado, above all China and India.

However, these sanctions are not completely watertight, as data from the Federal Statistical Office show!

Germany still imports significant quantities of Russian crude oil via India, which is processed into diesel fuel, for example. Imports of petroleum products from India increased more than tenfold in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period last year!

 But if Europe continues to buy oil from Russia via detours, will the oil price cap at least tear a hole in Putin’s war chest? The sobering answer: rather less, because Russia is circumventing the sanctions with increasing frequency.

Wabsite