Britain exposes scheme to circumvent oil sanctions using fake certificates

The British Sanctions Enforcement Agency has identified cases of the use of fake certificates to circumvent price limits on Russian oil.

Bloomberg reports this, citing a statement from the British agency.

The fake certificates were used to pass off Russian fuel supplies as originating from countries not subject to sanctions. This allowed traders to avoid the established restrictions and continue exporting at prices exceeding the established limit.

According to G7 rules, Russian oil can be purchased if its price does not exceed the limit of $60/barrel. If this price is exceeded, Western companies, in particular, are not allowed to provide insurance services or transport such cargoes.

Over the past year, the UK and the US have already imposed sanctions on several ships and companies for violating the price limit. Despite this, significant volumes of Russian oil continue to be exported, regardless of compliance with price limits.

The Sanctions Enforcement Agency has published new recommendations that include stricter controls on certificates of origin. They state that such documents should be issued by local authorities, not private companies, to avoid forgeries.

Earlier, USM reported that the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for tougher sanctions against the “shadow fleet” that secures oil exports.