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Rosneft has relied more on little-known trading firms registered in the United Arab Emirates to sell its crude as EU sanctions forced traditional players such as Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore out of the market.
Several new names have appeared on shipping lists in recent weeks as lifters for Russian crude, some of which appear to have only recently been incorporated in the UAE.
One of the attractions of Dubai and other emirates for Russian oil exporters is the UAE’s lack of interest in imposing any trade sanctions and low taxes, trade sources said.
“No one pays much attention to us, we just continue to do business, this is not Geneva,” a Russian trader in Dubai told the Energy Information Service, referring to Switzerland’s efforts to control the country since the war with Ukraine began on February 24. Crackdown on Russian oil trade.
new entrant
One of the newcomers is an obscure entity called Tejarinaft FZCO, which appears to be registered in the UAE and whose Arabic name translates to “trade in oil”.
Tejarinaft shipped two cargoes of Urals crude to Turkey last month and one in June, each from Russian state giant Rosneft, according to port data.
Tejarinaft has also become a regular off-taker of Russian fuel oil and gas oil in Baltic and Black Sea ports, while Rosneft is again a supplier.
There are no official records of Tejarinaft in the UAE Business Register or any other database, and more than half a dozen Dubai oil traders said they had never heard of the company.
term taker
A more familiar Emirati trading company marketing Russian barrels is Everest Energy, which last month shipped a shipment of Urals crude to the Turkish port of Tutunsi Flick. Everest is also a regular off-taker of oil products at Black Sea ports, according to trade sources.
Everest registered and traded other commodities with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) in 2018.
“We remain flexible, transparent and focused; this allows us to build reliable long-term relationships with our partners,” the company said on its website.
Coral Energy, another DMCC-based trader owned by an Azerbaijani national, remains a regular offtaker of Russian crude oil and products. It also supplies crude oil to Turkey.
Another member of the DMCC club, GMS Trading Middle East, has appeared on the Black Sea as a product off-taker. That company was only launched in May.
Companies headquartered in the UAE are exempt from any Russian trade sanctions introduced by the US, EU and Switzerland in recent months.
The sanctions prohibit commercial transactions with Rosneft, shipping company Sovcomflot and other government-controlled entities.
But because of financial sanctions targeting dollar and euro transactions, they have had to buy oil in other currencies, including the Emirati dirham and Russian ruble.
“Evasion of sanctions is impossible, they make life harder for everyone,” said another Russian trader.
For more coverage of the Ukraine crisis, visit Ukraine Crisis: Energy Implications >
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