As sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against Russia in response to Ukraine’s invasion stand, Morocco plans to import Russian fuel as the kingdom faces soaring oil prices hydrocarbons.
Morocco is likely to import Russian fuel as it imports Russian coal. Nothing prevents Rabat from doing so”, declared the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, during a parliamentary session on Monday, adding that “nothing prevents either from importing cereals from Russia or Ukraine. However, he made it clear that some international banks refuse to finance imports from Russia.
In March, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Finance, formally denied the ban on imports of Russian petroleum products to Morocco following Western sanctions on petroleum derivatives from Moscow. Responding to a question in Parliament on the proof of the origin of the import of petroleum products at the port of Tanger-Med, she indicated that Russian imports of diesel increased by 13%, during the period from the beginning of January as of February 27, 2023. “The share of Russian diesel imports was 9% in 2020 and fell to 5% in 2021, before rising to 9% in 2022,” she explained.
At the end of April, the Spanish government opened an investigation into a supposed illegal entry of Russian diesel into Spain via Morocco, revealed by the newspaper El Mundo .
