Western countries have indirectly purchased $2 billion worth of Russian oil through Turkey, revealing a glaring loophole in the current sanctions regime.
a New reports The company's operations have been profitable in the past few months as crude oil arrives at Turkish refineries to be made into products such as gasoline and diesel and shipped around the world.
The United States, the European Union and their Western allies banned nearly all imports from Russia at the start of the Ukraine war, but countries can still buy Russian fuel that has first been processed elsewhere.
Oil from Turkey's three refineries generated an estimated $834 million in tax revenue for the Kremlin, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Center for Energy and Clean Air Studies.
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The Azerbaijani-owned Star Aegean is 98% dependent on Russian crude, with around 73% of its supplies coming from Russian energy giant Lukoil, which is under U.S. sanctions, according to the report.
“Tax revenues generated by sanctions-targeted countries from imports of Turkish petroleum products made from Russian crude oil could enable Russia to recruit more than 6,200 soldiers per month,” the report said.
Russia's oil and gas sector is a key source of revenue for the Kremlin, accounting for 32 percent of the federal budget in 2023.
The report said Turkey and its Western buyers were increasingly exploiting loopholes that Ukraine had begged countries to close.
An oil tanker waits to dock at the Tupras refinery near the northwestern Turkish city of Izmit.
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In the first half of 2024, the EU, the US, Britain and other Western allies bought around $2 billion worth of Russian oil from three facilities in Turkey.
Moscow has offered Turkish companies discounts of between $5 and $20 a barrel, making it cheaper than getting it from the Middle East.
A bird's-eye view of a newly opened oil refinery expansion near Istanbul. Turkey's three oil refineries turn Russian crude into petroleum products to sell to the West.
Average monthly U.S. imports from Turkish refineries are set to surge 335% in 2024 from last year.
The Azerbaijani-owned Star Aegean is 98% dependent on Russian crude, with around 73% of its supplies coming from Russian energy giant Lukoil, which is under U.S. sanctions, according to the report.
Still, 90 percent of the refinery's crude is exported to Western countries that support Ukraine.
The report called on Western countries to ban imports from refineries that use Russian crude and all products produced by Russian-owned Lukoil.
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Russia's war chest has also been significantly boosted by India, which bought a record $37 billion in crude oil last year and exported $1 billion worth of petroleum products to the United States.
The Department of Defense will also spend nearly $1 billion by 2023. Greek refinery Importing Russian oil.
