Bloomberg, which accessed the internal EU document, reported that Sovcomflot is a key maritime carrier of Russian oil and liquefied gas.

Therefore, imposing sanctions on Sovcomflot should make it harder for the Kremlin to finance its aggression in Ukraine.

“The EU project follows earlier steps taken by Washington—this year, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot and several tankers associated with the company. The EU project proposes sanctioning 13 units used to transport goods for the defense sector and oil,” Bloomberg reported.

After Western countries imposed restrictions on the export of oil from Russia, Moscow adapted to the restrictions by using the so-called shadow fleet—old tankers, often previously designated for scrapping, operated by unknown companies frequently established after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

These allowed Russia to sell oil to Asian buyers. Other tactics include turning off ships’ Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), transferring oil at sea, and even changing the names of tankers.

According to data from May 2022 provided by the independent Russian portal Moscow Times, Sovcomflot had a fleet of 134 ships, both owned and chartered.