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Leaked Emails Reveal UAE Network Moving $90B in Russian Oil Amid Sanctions Crackdown
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An apparent smuggling ring exposed by an email server mishap has moved at least $90 billion of Russian oil and played a central role in funding the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, according to the Financial Times on February 20.
The outlet said it identified 48 seemingly independent companies operating from different physical addresses to disguise the origin of Russian oil, particularly crude tied to the Kremlin-controlled producer Rosneft.
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The network was discovered because the companies shared a single private email server.
The legal relationship among the entities is unclear, but the companies appear to play distinct roles, with one set buying cargoes and another selling into markets such as India and China, and some shipments are routed via third locations such as the UAE.
Latvia’s foreign minister, Baiba Braže, was quoted as saying the network makes enforcing the oil price cap “nearly impossible” and that “all the ecosystem needs to be sanctioned.”
Three EU officials told the Financial Times its findings could support new sanctions, and EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan said the bloc was seeing “increasingly complex patterns” aimed at bypassing measures.
The Financial Times said it identified 442 web domains whose public registrations showed they used a single private email server, “mx.phoenixtrading.ltd,” indicating shared back-office functions.
Filings linked by the Financial Times to the domain list showed Russian oil exports totaling more than $90 billion.
Much of the crude was listed under generic names such as “export blend,” and most entities have no websites or contact details on their domains.
The newspaper said the true figure was likely higher because the customs data was incomplete, and it took a conservative approach to membership and shipment counting.
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Sergey Vakulenko, former head of strategy at Gazprom Neft , was quoted as saying: “Using a maze of 50 companies is an old trick from the nineties. That’s how fortunes were made and taxes dodged by soon-to-be oligarchs.”
“But it’s a big surprise that one network has become so big and important to Rosneft. I’d have expected more sock puppets,” he added.
Earlier, it was reported that new US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil prompted key buyers to pause purchases, pushing Russia’s seaborne crude shipments down and leaving more oil stored on tankers at sea.
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