The UK government has announced new sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow oil fleet as it steps up efforts to squeeze energy revenue for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
Britain targeted 175 companies in the 2Rivers network, according to a Foreign Office statement on Tuesday, which marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale attack. It also approved PJSC Transneft, one of the world’s largest oil pipeline companies, which it says is responsible for transporting more than 80 percent of Russia’s oil exports.
“Britain has today taken decisive action to disrupt vital financial aid, military equipment and tariffs that sustain Russia’s aggression,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement, describing the package as “our biggest steps since the early months of the invasion”.
Read more: The European Union Commission proposed further restrictions on Russian oil trading and financial services.
Bloomberg reported in October how the 2Rivers network, linked to Azeri businessmen Etibar Eyyub and Tahir Garayev, was instrumental in keeping millions of barrels of Russian crude flowing despite international sanctions imposed in response to the war.
The network of offshore companies, formerly known as Coral, grew rapidly before sanctions imposed by the European Union and Britain from 2024 hurt its ability to operate. At the time, Grief’s lawyers denied he had any ties to Rosneft or Ayub and said he had not been involved in any petroleum-related activities since late 2022. Representatives for Ayub’s companies did not respond to a request for comment.
The sanctions have had the effect of raising the cost of each trade and causing Western banks, insurers and professional services firms to largely avoid them so as not to expose themselves to the authorities, according to people with direct knowledge of the operations.
That has forced the network to pay higher insurance premiums, accept longer and more confusing shipping routes and lower its price per barrel as brokers, refiners, storage operators and ports either refuse to trade with them altogether or raise costs to protect themselves, the people said.
The Foreign Office said the international sanctions had deprived Russia of about $450 billion in revenue, the equivalent of two more years of funding for its war.
Image: An oil tanker; Photo credit: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg
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