Russia is still making billions of dollars on oil exports since invading Ukraine. That crude is still flowing abroad thanks in part to a controversial group of oil traders.
Activists demonstrate in front of a ship carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea this spring. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russian oil. However, most countries have not, and refineries around the world still import Russian oil.
A drop-off in Russian oil exports was minimal and has strongly rebounded in April, despite fears of supply shortages driving recent high oil prices, says Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, a data analytics firm. Russia has earned more thansince its invasion of Ukraine, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, an international research group. A month into the U.S.-led sanctions, the flow of Russian petroleum to the world, as well as the revenues from it, remains strong.
Trafigura is one of a handful of companies in Switzerland that handles about a quarter of the world's oil each day. For decades, these firms have sourced much of their oil from Russia. About 80% of Russian commodities are traded in Switzerland, according to a 2021 report from the Swiss Embassy in Moscow.
But for now, the traders' continued loadings have big implications for Russia's ability to wage war in Ukraine, says Alexandra Gillies, an adviser at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, an organization focused on extractive industries. Across the supply chain, traders are valued for their logistical know-how."They do not own tankers, but they know where the tankers are, they know how to rent a tanker," Luciani says.
Gunvor was co-founded by Putin ally Gennady Timchenko. He sold his Gunvor shares in 2014, just before the U.S. placed sanctions on him following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Gunvor has a minority, noncontrolling stake in an oil products terminal on the Baltic Sea. A Gunvor spokesperson said in an email to NPR,"The terminal is being reviewed for divestiture."
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