Finnish media find out how Russia "hid" its oil tankers behind shell companies in Dubai
In its investigation, the team of the Finnish public broadcaster Yle showed how Russia has moved abroad the activities of companies that manage the fleet of tankers transporting Russian oil; one of the largest centres for these cover companies is Dubai.
As reported by Yle, the editorial team found out that many of the companies operating the so-called shadow fleet of tankers transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions are registered in Dubai.
The journalists found that the registration address of about 60 such shell companies is the same elite Meydan Hotel in Dubai. It turned out to be a ‘virtual office’ for thousands of companies registered at this address, but only on paper. The Eagle S tanker, suspected of damaging submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland on 25 December 2024, is also registered to such a company.
Last week, the court lifted Eagle S's arrest due to the lack of sufficient grounds to extend it.
In a comment on the matter, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen acknowledged that the complicated ownership structure of shadow tankers carrying Russian oil is a big problem.
"If, for example, a serious oil spill occurs in the Baltic Sea, it is unclear whether anyone will be held accountable," she said.
She added that the EU understands the problem and is looking for ways to make sanctions against Russia's oil sector more effective. One way could be to impose sanctions on companies that operate such tankers; currently, the lists mostly include ships.
Elina Valtonen believes that one challenge to the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia is that many countries do not comply with them, and Western countries cannot do much to influence this.
The article also reiterates that several EU countries, such as Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia, continue to buy oil from Russia, and the shadow fleet helps Russia sell oil to third countries, bypassing the G7 price ceiling.
In addition, large volumes of Russian oil may eventually reach the EU via bypass routes. For example, a shadow tanker carries oil from Russia and unloads in India, where the cargo is processed into oil products that are then transported to Europe bleached.
On 24 February, the EU added several dozen more vessels to the list of sanctioned vessels in the latest package of sanctions.
In addition, the EU Council has established two new criteria that will allow the EU to impose restrictive measures on individuals and legal entities that own or operate vessels of Russia's shadow fleet and those that support or benefit from Russia's military-industrial complex.