A scheme for illegal supplies of Russian fuel, which falls under EU sanctions, has been uncovered in Spain. It has been operating for three years. According to experts, diesel worth about 2 billion euros has already been imported.
Spain continues to receive supplies of Russian diesel fuel - despite the sanctions imposed by the EU. In February 2023, due to Russia's war against Ukraine, a ban was introduced on the import of petroleum products from Russia into EU countries, including diesel. But as the Spanish press reports, citing competent authorities, this is a smuggling trade. It is carried out thanks to various tricks and complex trade schemes used by international intermediaries, and is possible not least due to insufficient controls by Spanish customs. Law enforcement authorities in Spain are conducting an investigation to put an end to illegal supplies that violate EU decisions.
What has been revealed so far?
"The complex international scheme to supply Russian diesel fuel to Spain by circumventing international sanctions was organized only three years ago", writes the authoritative Barcelona-based publication "Periodico". Citing data from the National Anti-Fraud Office and the Ministry of Tax Revenue, the newspaper notes that "the supplied fuel reaches the consumer through the foreign and Spanish maritime transport system, storage facilities, energy companies and gas stations". According to experts, diesel worth over two billion euros has been illegally delivered to the country.
Spanish media, including those close to the government, claim that this is a "branched international network for illegal trade" created by the so-called "diesel mafia". The publications indicate that the network includes large and small tankers flying the flags of different countries, a number of large oil terminals in North Africa and the Canary Islands, as well as an unspecified number of "ghost companies" that are involved in organizing wholesale and retail supplies, falsifying documents, etc.
What is the route of diesel deliveries to Spain?
According to information from the investigation that has been leaked to the press, the fuel first reaches the shores of Africa mainly from the Russian port of Primorsk. Among the vessels involved in such transports, the Spanish list several names of tankers under the flags of the Bahamas, Mozambique or the Marshall Islands. Moreover, some of these tankers are already on the EU and UK sanctions list.
The tanks of the corresponding terminals in the Moroccan port cities of Tangier and Mohammedia are filled with the delivered fuel. This is done completely legally, since the Kingdom of Morocco has not joined the EU sanctions against Russia. In the North African country, diesel receives export documents as local fuel, although such fuel is not produced there at all, Spanish media write.
The final destination is Spain
In Morocco, the Russian fuel is loaded onto medium and small tankers owned by Greek and other companies. Then the vessels head to the Spanish Canary Islands. The tanker named Paxoi, for example, last visited the archipelago on January 22, 2026. It traveled a distance of 1,700 km, after which it dumped the fuel into the storage tanks of the port of Las Palmas. From there, the fuel was directed both to local gas stations - labeled "Moroccan" - and to Spanish companies trading in petroleum products on the Iberian Peninsula.
According to shipping expert Rafael Muñoz, it is not at all mandatory to enter its original origin in the documents accompanying the cargo. In addition, Muñoz assumes that in Morocco "Russian diesel can be mixed with similar products from other countries in order to cover the tracks". The expert also points out that in such busy Spanish ports as Las Palmas "the customs service does not have the opportunity to thoroughly examine all incoming cargo". According to Muñoz, the Russian diesel deals are also linked to individuals from Gibraltar, who also acquire the fuel in Morocco and then resell it to third parties.
"Until recently, Morocco did not supply Spain with a single drop of diesel fuel, and in the first four months of 2025, deliveries amounted to 216,000 tons," said Professor Miguel Ramos, a political scientist at the University of Madrid. "The lack of necessary control over fuel exports can also be explained by the excessive trust that has developed in recent years between Spain and its Moroccan partners, as well as the inability to suddenly uncover the complex smuggling scheme," he commented.
The importance of Russian gas for Spain
The political scientist explains that each batch of diesel supplied to Spain is formed through one-day shell companies - Spanish and foreign, whose activities can be revealed almost exclusively by the special services. Now, however, it is these special services that have become more active in the case.
There is another important factor that stimulates the supplies in question - this is "Spain's interest in receiving fuel at moderate prices, given the country's unfavorable financial situation", says Ramos.
It is for this reason that the country increased supplies of Russian fuel three times at the end of last year - although it has recently tried to abandon mass purchases of Russian gas in accordance with EU sanctions. The price of Russian gas is up to 40 percent lower than that of gas supplied by the United States, the main gas exporter to the Spanish market.
However, Spain "promises to implement the EU decision and completely stop Russian supplies by the end of this year," the professor noted.