LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Russian oil is still being shipped by Maltese companies
Malta is one of three European Union member States with local shipping companies interested and involved in the transport shipment of Russian oil.
According to an investigation by international non-governmental organisation ‘Global Witness’ – shipping companies in Malta, Greece and Cyprus have practically doubled their shipments of Russian oil since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
The conclusions of the report were published by the UK weekly newspaper The Independent on Sunday. Louis Goddard, the senior data investigations adviser at Global Witness told the newspaper that ships linked to Greece, Cyprus and Malta are making a mockery of the EU effort to sanction Putin’s war machine. He said that in order to close this “gaping loophole”, the EU must “stand firm” against lobbying from all member states with vested interests in the Russian oil trade, as well as put restrictions on shipping at the heart of its sanctions regime.
An analysis by Global Witness of the shipping data gathered by Refinitiv confirms that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine – Malta, Greece and Cyprus have constanly increased the amount of oil transported from Russia.
The report also shows that shipments gave a huge financial boost to the Russian government by billions of dollars in oil revenue.
In February, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine, companies and vessels linked to the three Mediterranean countries shifted 31 million barrels of Russian oil. In May, that amount had increased to 58 million barrels. As from last February, ships linked to Greece, Malta and Cyprus have transported 178 million barrels, worth $17.3bn (€16.10bn) at current prices for Russian crude oil
In an address to the Maltese Parliament in May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Malta to not allow itself to be abused by Russia and to stop allowing privileges to Russian nationals.
-photo agenziafotogramma.it
(ITALPRESS)

Source: medNews