Razom We Stand, a Ukrainian non-governmental organisation that actively supports the introduction of a full embargo on Russian fossil fuels and the renewable energy transition of Ukraine, has addressed the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko with an urgent issue of Russian oil transit through Ukraine.
Razom We Stand recently appealed to the European Parliament with a proposal to strengthen sanctions, namely to block Russian gas in the EU and to include this issue in the next European Parliament resolution.
This initiative was supported by 115 Ukrainian and international organisations. According to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), sanctions on Russian oil have already resulted in a $113 billion reduction in Russia’s revenues by $113 billion.
Russia’s oil industry is a key source of revenue for the country’s budget, and despite the sanctions, oil export revenues have increased year-on-year.
In June, Ukraine imposed sanctions blocking the transit of Lukoil’s pipeline oil to Central Europe. This decision cut off an important source of revenue for the Kremlin, which is used to support military operations, and deprived the Russian operator of the opportunity to sell oil through Ukraine, which brought in about $6 billion a year.
Until June 2024, the Ukrainian company Ukrtransnafta, the operator of the main oil pipeline system, pumped Russian oil under a ten-year contract from 2019. Ukraine was supposed to receive $1.5 billion in revenues during this period, but these amounts represent only 0.075% of Ukraine’s projected GDP for 2023, given Ukraine’s losses from the war, which exceed $0.5 trillion.
Razom We Stand expresses concern about the pressure on the Ukrainian authorities from the prime ministers of Slovakia and Hungary to continue the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine. Despite claims that Lukoil does not own the oil transported through Ukraine for the Hungarian energy company Mol Nyrt, Russian oil still flows to European markets through Ukrainian territory, financing the war against Ukraine.
Razom We Stand emphasises that this is a matter of Ukraine’s national security and calls on the government to continue to support the sanctions in all possible ways.
“In the light of Russia’s ongoing aggression, we must take decisive measures to protect our national security and economic interests. Stopping the transit of oil through Ukraine is a necessary step to reduce the revenues from the aggressor country’s gas transportation system, which is used for the aggressor’s military purposes, and to engage individual European countries to stop aid to Ukraine,” said Maxim Bevz, Team Lead on Renewable Energy Campaigns and Green Rebuilding of Ukraine.
The international community’s joint efforts have already reduced Russia’s oil and gas revenues in 2023 by almost a quarter, which is an important step in the fight against aggression. They amounted to RUB 8.82 trillion, which is more than the so-called “baseline” but less than the plan (the budget law envisaged RUB 8.94 trillion) and RUB 2.8 trillion (-23.9%) less than in 2022.
Razom We Stand asks the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to provide information on the extension of contractual obligations for oil transit beyond 2024 and a copy of the decision to impose sanctions on Lukoil for the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine.
Razom We Stand, a Ukrainian organisation working internationally, calls for a full and permanent embargo on Russian fossil fuels and an immediate end to all investment in Russian oil and gas companies through a worldwide phase-out of fossil fuels.
Press contact:
Maxim Gardus
Communications specialist at Razom We Stand
