Despite the restrictions, Germany continues to import large quantities of petroleum products made from Russian oil, which is subject to international economic sanctions, through India.
According to the data of the German office, the import of petroleum products from India increased by more than 12 times in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year. During this period, Germany bought 451 million euros worth of Indian oil products in India.
Data from the United Nations show that India also imported large amounts of crude oil from Russia during the same period, reports Al Jazeera.
Imports from India mainly concern derivatives used in the production of diesel fuel or heating oil. According to the UN, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India has been importing crude oil for the production of these derivatives exclusively from Russia.
Although the sale is legal, critics say it represents a diversion for Russian oil and reduces the impact of sanctions aimed at depriving Moscow of revenue to fund its war effort.
Let us remind you that due to the Russian attack on Ukraine, Germany stopped the direct import of oil from Russia, and Western countries introduced restrictions on oil prices from Russia.
Russia found other ways
The weekly Der Spiegel reported that despite these sanctions, Russia is still receiving well over $60 per 159 liter barrel of oil, the ceiling price set by the G7 countries for oil from Russia. In the past few weeks, German media have also increasingly reported on how Russia circumvents Western economic sanctions by importing and exporting through neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan.
Head of EU foreign policy Josep Borrell admitted on his blog in May that these were questionable actions. “We in the EU do not buy Russian oil, but we buy diesel fuel obtained by refining this Russian oil somewhere else. This way we avoid our sanctions. All this also raises moral questions,” he wrote.
Source: Rtvslo
