The UK authorities have detected a loophole in the legislation to dodge anti-Russian sanctions. Implementing a cunning trick, the Kingdom is still buying huge volumes of Russian crude oil from third parties. In this way, the British government satisfies national needs for petroleum products.

According to expert estimates, imports of crude oil of Russian origin from India, China, and Turkey cost the British government a whopping £2.2 billion in 2023. Great Britain purchased a similar volume of Russian oil in 2022. Remarkably, the government spent £434.2 million in 2021, importing crude oil directly from Russian suppliers.  

At present, these countries are acknowledged as the largest buyers of Russian oil. The British authorities resort to these Asian intermediaries to circumvent the sanctions against Russian energy companies. The thing is that Russian crude refined in another country is not considered to have been produced in Russia. This allows interested parties to bypass the trade ban. As a result, commodities from the Russian Federation are sold to allied states for processing before exporting to the UK. 

Interestingly, official statistics on crude oil imports to the UK are phony. The government statistics agency reported that direct shipments of crude oil from Russia contracted to £1.5 billion in Q1 2022. This figure in 2023 equaled zero.     

Bloomberg said that deliveries of Russian crude oil are orchestrated by unknown companies. As a rule, they found ways of evading the sanctions. Despite acting incognito, these firms are capable of arranging deliveries.