The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has launched an investigation into a possible fraudulent scheme that allows countries such as Turkey to supply sanctioned Russian oil to the EU under altered labelling. This was reported by Politico, citing information from two sources.
Earlier, Politico found out that millions of barrels of Russian fuel are entering the EU market after changing the labelling in Turkey to circumvent sanctions.
This scheme was made possible by a loophole in EU sanctions rules that allows the import of fuel of ‘mixed’ origin if it is deemed ‘non-Russian’.
According to the investigation, this avoidance of sanctions brought Russia an additional €3 billion in just one year after restrictions on oil imports from Russia were introduced in 2023.
This practice shows how Russia continues to find ways to circumvent EU sanctions, which account for almost half of the Kremlin’s revenue.
OLAF’s investigation comes amid deteriorating relations between Brussels and Ankara over its actions in support of Russian initiatives. OLAF is not commenting on the investigation at this time.
It is worth noting that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has proposed conducting operations against the ‘ghost fleet’ that illegally transports oil from Russia.
