Investigation: Albania became a transshipment point for smuggled oil from Russia

The Russian Federation is actively seeking ways to circumvent international sanctions in order to continue exporting refined oil products, a key source of budget revenue.

According to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, the Kremlin is directing part of these funds to finance the war against Ukraine and maintain law enforcement agencies.

One of the hubs for the transshipment of smuggled petroleum products has become the private port of Porto Romano in the city of Durres, Albania. Back in January, local police detained the ship Aya Zanoubya, which arrived under the pretext of a technical malfunction. According to official documents, the ship was carrying cement, but during the inspection, 600,000 liters of diesel fuel were discovered.

As journalists found out, this is not the first visit of this vessel with fictitious documents – and not the first violation detected at Porto Romano. According to BIRN, the port regularly accepts fuel from countries under sanctions – primarily from Russia and Libya.

“Russia is the main source of illegal fuel in the region,” said Lorenzo Bagnoli, head of the Italian investigative project IRPI, which has been documenting the smuggling of petroleum products in the Mediterranean since 2016.

According to his estimate, up to a third of all illegal supplies come from the Russian Federation, and another share comes from territories controlled by Libya.

Despite the European Union’s ban on sea imports of Russian oil from December 2022 (and petroleum products from February 2023), Russia is successfully circumventing the restrictions through complex logistical schemes:

The fuel first reaches Turkey, and from there it reaches the EU under the guise of “Turkish”.

Ports without refineries process supplies, which then go to Greek refineries, which even supplied American military bases.

Albania, which borders Greece and is located near Italy and Croatia, has become a convenient point for such transit – thanks to weak control and corruption of port structures.

At the same time, Russia is increasing cooperation with Libya — more precisely, with the group of General Khalifa Haftar, which controls the port of Benghazi. According to the UN Commission, from March 2022 to October 2024, 185 suspicious tankers left there, which may be involved in illegal fuel exports.

Despite its large oil reserves, Libya does not have sufficient refining capacity, which is what Russia takes advantage of by supplying fuel and transporting it further.

By the way, targeted drone strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian oil industry facilities are already having serious consequences for the economy of the aggressor country. Due to significant damage to the oil refining infrastructure, Russia has faced a fuel shortage and was forced to temporarily limit its exports . According to experts, the restoration of refining volumes may take at least until mid-2026.

In addition,despite the EU’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy, some countries in the bloc are increasing their purchases of gas and oil, effectively providing the Kremlin with billions in revenue.

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