Russia’s floating petrol stations near the Bulgarian coast

Dnevnik

Russia’s floating petrol stations near the Bulgarian coast

Moscow’s "ghost fleet" of tankers undercuts marine fuel prices just off Bulgarian territorial waters and might be circumventing EU sanctions

Dnevnik

© Dnevnik


Two Russian tankers, the Nikolay Veliki and the Nikolay Gamayunov, have been refueling ships leaving the ports of Varna and Burgas at the border of Bulgaria's 24-mile contiguous zone in the Black Sea. The bunkering at sea, which comes with significant risks, has probably been motivated by the dumping prices offered by the Russian vessels selling fuel that is not subject to taxes and excise duties. Both ships are classified as small tankers, which Russia uses to trade its sanctioned oil on the high seas, according to several specialized international publications.

This has been revealed by an investigation carried out by Dnevnik after several signals by shipping companies that work as intermediaries for the only company in the country trading in marine fuel - Lukoil Bulgaria Bunker Ltd. Among the services these companies offer to their clients, along with the full servicing of ships visiting Bulgarian ports, is their bunkering.

For this reason, the firms believe this type of trade along the Bulgarian coast has a direct negative impact on the business of the Bulgarian agents. Furthermore, there may also have been ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil sanctioned by the European Union and the United States.

Everyone knows it

None of the shipping agents offering this service, however, wanted to be quoted by Dnevnik. But they claim that the Nikolay Veliki and Nikolay Gamayunov are by no means the only Russian "floating petrol stations" off the coast of Bulgaria. They maintain that the situation off the territorial waters of Romania, where there were dozens of such tankers because of the incomparably busier traffic to and from the ports of Constanta, is even worse. At the same time, neither the Bulgarian nor the Romanian or Turkish institutions, which should be concerned with the trade in oil products near their territorial waters, have been active, although they have long been aware of what has been going on.

Data from the web-based Eqasis system showed on several consecutive days in early August and September that the two tankers were making regular trips to the port of Novorossiysk, whose oil terminal has a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day. The rest of the time, they stop at the border of Bulgaria's contiguous zone in the Black Sea (24 nautical miles from the coast) in front of the ports of Varna and Burgas. This position is obviously well chosen, as only in the contiguous maritime zone can Bulgaria exercise control to prevent violations of customs, migration and other laws and regulations.

It is evident from the Eqasis data that ships leaving after a stay in the ports of Varna and Burgas head for the two tankers, spending hours in close proximity to them. The same happens with passing ships or vessels that are about to visit Bulgarian ports. According to reports received by Dnevnik, during their stay alongside the Nikolay Veliky and Nikolay Gamayunov they were refueled at lower dumping prices compared to those at which this service is offered in Bulgarian ports, because of the excise duties, taxes and fees paid.

Outright smuggling

According to Andrey Delchev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Gas and Oil Association, the sale of oil products outside territorial waters is not a new practice. "This way, taxes are not paid, which is outright smuggling," he says. "Two years ago, the EU banned the transport of oil by Russian ships at sea, something they, of course, violate. The second ban was on the sale of Russian oil and fuels, for which we had a derogation, then we gave it up and now Lukoil Neftochim is supposedly only working with non-Russian oil. Trade in Russian oil products on the high seas could be a breach of the tax regime, depending on whether it takes place in one's territorial waters. And it is more than clear that such trade along our shores is sticking in the pockets of Bulgarian traders," Delchev adds.

According to maritime rules, every ship weighing 300 gross tons and above ought to have an Automatic Identification System (AIS) that broadcasts information about its identification, type, position, course, speed, etc. installed and kept operational at all times. However, data from real-time ship tracking platforms show that the two ships have regularly sailed with the AIS system switched off, effectively rendering them invisible to other ships and shore stations monitoring maritime traffic. Thus, the Nikolay Veliki and Nikolay Gamayunov could enter Bulgaria's contiguous maritime zone and even the country's territorial sea, and then leave again undetected without being subjected to customs and police control.

Source: Dnevnik

Eyes wide shut

According to Dnevnik sources in the Ministry of Transport, these areas should be under the continuous control of the Border Police and the Customs Agency, which are responsible for border and customs compliance respectively. It is also the duty of the state to monitor compliance with the EU sanctions on trade in Russian oil. However, the responsible institutions have told Dnevnik that no breaches of any of these rules have been observed.

Yet, according to the same sources, the embargo on trade in Russian oil within the Black Sea is violated due to the lack of effective control. For example, neither Romanian, Bulgarian nor Turkish authorities monitor the transport and trade of Russian oil on the high seas.

In many cases, the documents drawn up when tankers are loaded with Russian oil indicate a completely different origin of the cargo - for example, from Egypt or Azerbaijan. Moreover, current international regulations do not prohibit the transfer of fuel from one ship to another on the high seas and international waters, subject to certain environmental standards.

The Russian ships' clandestine behavior off the Bulgarian coast is not particularly new or unique. Publications by both the French newspaper Le Monde and the specialist online publication maritime-executive.com, which cites a recent report by the US Naval Institute that indicates that a Russian "shadow fleet" is moving oil to four different areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, have noted this subterfuge. The oil is transported through a complex network of ship-to-ship transfers by a collection of obsolete and worn-out tankers with unknown or dubious insurers that helped Russia evade Western sanctions by concealing the origin of the oil. This means that the problem is more than a localized one, but does not detract from the fact that Bulgarian institutions continue to ignore the obvious circumvention of rules just off the country's shore.

Two Russian tankers, the Nikolay Veliki and the Nikolay Gamayunov, have been refueling ships leaving the ports of Varna and Burgas at the border of Bulgaria's 24-mile contiguous zone in the Black Sea. The bunkering at sea, which comes with significant risks, has probably been motivated by the dumping prices offered by the Russian vessels selling fuel that is not subject to taxes and excise duties. Both ships are classified as small tankers, which Russia uses to trade its sanctioned oil on the high seas, according to several specialized international publications.

This has been revealed by an investigation carried out by Dnevnik after several signals by shipping companies that work as intermediaries for the only company in the country trading in marine fuel - Lukoil Bulgaria Bunker Ltd. Among the services these companies offer to their clients, along with the full servicing of ships visiting Bulgarian ports, is their bunkering.

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