The Russian Federation annually earns $10 billion by circumventing the established price cap on oil sales set at $60 per barrel (in effect since December 5, 2022), in addition to significant export revenues from energy resources, reported the Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladislav Vasyuk.
"The circumvention of the price cap using these tankers brings Russia at least $10 billion each year, not counting its substantial earnings from energy exports," he stated in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, continuing the fight against Russia's circumvention of sanctions is a top priority.
"We have seen much success recently, both from European countries and the United States, particularly with the latest strong sanctions package," Vasyuk noted.
He suggested that the effects of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on January 10, 2025, will be evident by the end of February.
According to the commissioner, the number of sanctioned vessels in Russia's shadow fleet increased to 276 tankers from 160 at the end of 2024, following the introduction of the aforementioned U.S. sanctions package.
Citing KSE, Vasyuk provided data indicating that the volume of oil exported by Russia last year and in 2023 is nearly identical; however, revenue in 2024 increased compared to 2023, reaching $192.1 billion versus $188.3 billion, respectively. At the same time, oil revenues for the aggressor country's budget grew by 23% to RUB 10.1 trillion, while in 2023, they were RUB 8.2 trillion.
"On one hand, it is concerning that the overall level of oil export revenues in the RF budget has remained nearly the same; however, from the perspective of creating problems for their economy, it has worked excellently, as it has eliminated any opportunities for development and modernization in the long term," he remarked.