Environment
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In a report published Monday, October 14, a Ukrainian think tank reviews the risks posed by a secret armada of oil tankers set up by Moscow since the start of the conflict in Ukraine to circumvent Western economic sanctions.
This is an alarming report on the “ghost fleet” published on Monday October 14 by the Kyiv School of Economics Institute (KSE Institute), one of the most important Ukrainian think tanks. This investigation looks back at the armada of ships that operates in the shadows to transport Russian oil around the world. This fleet, made up of aging tankers, allows Moscow to circumvent economic sanctions imposed by the G7 and the European Union. Faced with this situation, the KSE Institute proposes the creation of “shadeless areas” in order to strengthen the control of ships in European waters and avoid a potential environmental disaster.
To escape Western restrictions, Russia has invested massively in the purchase of aging tankers. These ships, aged 18 years on average, are used because of their low purchase price and are often acquired by opaque structures to conceal their link with Russia. They thus bypass the cap on oil prices imposed by the G7 countries and allow Moscow to sell its oil at higher prices – around 70 dollars (more than 64 euros) per barrel – to buyers like India and China. According to
