Despite the oil sanctions imposed on Russia by the G7 countries, Greece’s shipping companies have made huge profits. According to the report of the Financial Times (FT), from July 2023 till now, Greek ship owners have earned at least $ 3.8 billion, or more than $ 380 million, from the transportation of Russian crude oil. The report claims that Greek-owned tankers still make up a large part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet and are mainly delivering oil to Asian markets. All this happened at a time when the G7 countries had imposed a price cap to reduce Russia’s oil income. According to the report, many companies took advantage of the loopholes in the rules to continue their business.
Sanctions were imposed, but oil transportation did not stop
According to the Financial Times, in December 2022, the G7 countries had imposed a price cap of $ 60 per barrel on Russian crude oil. The rule was that if the price of Russian oil was more than $60 per barrel, European shipping, insurance and financial services could not be used. But the report claims that this rule was circumvented by hiding the actual price of oil or additional expenses through so-called attestation fraud. According to the report, not a single barrel of Russian crude oil was actually sold at a price below $60 during this period. Later the European Union also tried to impose a floating price cap on Urals Blend 15 percent below the market price, but even that did not stop oil transportation.
Which companies earned the most
According to FT’s calculations, Dynacom Tankers, controlled by George Procopius, benefited the most. The company earned freight income of at least $915 million by transporting Russian crude through July 2023. This is almost a quarter of the total earnings of Greek shipowners. After this, Onassis Group’s Olympic Shipping and Management earned at least $404 million. Athens-based Stealth Maritime and Polembros Shipping also achieved revenues of more than $200 million. The report says that after June 2023, eight of the top 20 companies earning the most from Russian oil are from Greece.
How did Russia get the benefit and why did questions arise?
According to the report, oil export still remains the biggest source of income for Russia. Last year, Russia earned about $160 billion from oil exports. This money came at a time when Russia is spending about 40 percent of its budget on defense expenditure. The report said that Ukraine tried to reduce this income by attacking Russian refineries, but this did not have much impact on oil exports. On the other hand, Ukraine had put several Greek companies, including Dynacom, on the list of “International War Sponsors” in 2023. However, after diplomatic pressure from Athens, the names of these companies were later removed from the list.
Expensive freight becomes the biggest reason for earning
According to reports, ships carrying Russian oil get 30 to 40 percent more freight than normal cargo. The reasons for this are legal investigations, insurance related complications and reputational risks. “There is money in this business and some companies jump at the chance when others step back,” Michelle VJ Bockman, a maritime intelligence analyst, told the Financial Times. The report also said that Greek shipowners have long been known for taking risks. For this reason he remains continuously active in this business.
How was it revealed?
The report studied routes carrying 389 million barrels of crude oil, while an additional 153 million barrels of export were not included because freight data was not available. According to the report, about 15 percent of Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports in May were carried by Greek-owned ships. The top earning companies include most of the remaining Russian state companies, such as Sovcomflot, Rosneftflot and their related subsidiaries, while Hong Kong’s Prominent is reported to be the only major non-Russian company.
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