Russian oil companies are facing delays in receiving payments for crude oil and fuel, with banks in China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) exercising increased caution due to concerns over potential US secondary sanctions.
These payment delays are leading to reduced revenue for the Kremlin as part of Washington’s dual-policy sanctions aimed at disrupting financial flows to Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine.
Banks in China, the UAE, and Turkey have recently strengthened their compliance requirements regarding sanctions, leading to delays or even refusals to process money transfers to Moscow.
According to the report, banks such as UAE’s Mashreq Bank, Turkey’s Ziraat and Vakıf Bank, and Chinese banks like ICBC and Bank of China are still facilitating payments, but the processing time has significantly lengthened, taking weeks or even months to complete transactions.