Western countries are pressuring Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Panama to do a better job of ensuring their ships don’t transport Russian oil above the market cap, Reuters reported on Dec. 1, citing an unnamed source.
The source reported seeing a communication between the U.S., the EU and the UK, in which these countries step up their pressure on states that enable Russia to sell its oil in defiance of the $60 price cap on its seaborne shipments.
This cap, introduced in 2022, only began to be enforced recently. It forbids Western companies from providing maritime services like transportation, insurance and finance to any craft that help Russia get around the price cap.
Russia uses old tankers to send fuel to markets in India and China. Countries like Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands allow the Russians to use their flags.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence has said that nearly 40% of Russia’s 535 dark-fleet tankers have registered through companies in the Marshall Islands.
Russia has been able to rake in impressive revenues from its price cap violating exports, allowing it to continue financing its war in Ukraine and hiring enough contract soldiers and mercenaries to replace its losses, Viktor Kivliuk, an analyst at the Center for Defense Strategy, told the Kyiv Independent in a November interview.
This also allows Russia to continue manufacturing vehicles, ammo and drones, albeit not advanced ones for the most part, he said.
