In the first half of the year, the EU, the US, Britain, and other countries that support Ukraine bought fuel produced from Russian crude worth about $2B from Turkish refineries. Meanwhile, Turkey benefits from Moscow’s discounts, increasing its annual purchases from Russia by 70% this year.
Supplies of gasoline, diesel fuel, and other products from Russian oil have risen in recent months due to imports from three Turkish refineries. These imports are technically legal because, despite the sanctions, countries can buy fuel of Russian origin if it is first processed in another country. Turkey and Western companies that buy oil from it are increasingly using this loophole.
When the EU imports gasoline from Turkey, it is 10% cheaper than from Saudi Arabia, but only companies benefit from this, not consumers. One of the Turkish refineries – Star Aegean, which belongs to Azerbaijan, is 98% dependent on oil from Russia. However, almost 90% of oil products from the refinery go to Western allies of Ukraine.