Morocco’s Makhzen Regime Implicates Spanish PM Sanchez In Flooding Europe With Russian Fuel

The Spanish media have accused the Moroccan regime of implicating the Madrid government in the violation of the sanctions imposed on Russia in Europe, after the head of a local company revealed that Russian oil products, especially “diesel”, are still entering Spanish territory and sometimes being transported to the rest of European countries, despite the European embargo against Moscow.
The CEO of Repsol, Josso John Imaz, stated that Russian diesel enters from destinations such as Turkey and North Africa, referring to Morocco, while Spanish media said they had data that Morocco has been exporting Russian diesel to Spain since the end of 2022, when it imported between 50,000 and 100,000 barrels of fuel per day from Russia, allowing Moscow to become Rabat’s first supplier.
The Spanish Minister for the Environment, Teresa Ribera, said in a statement on the case that, in the face of any doubt, it is necessary to check “whether the imported products come from the place indicated or from another country and whether there are any irregularities”.
She explained that she would send a letter to the European Commission to demand the “immediate implementation” of a European response to “improve the traceability” of oil imported by the European Union, with the imposition of a certificate when leaving the refineries as well as the ports.
She added that “these concerns” prompted Spain to “investigate” the possibility of Russian oil reaching its territory, noting that fuel imports are “theoretically accompanied by documents proving their origin”, while the agency “Europe Press” reported that Madrid will investigate the possibility of oil products entering the country. Spain pledged to trace the sources of all shipments of Russian oil entering Europe via its territory.
Moreover, the Wall Street Journal pointed out in a report that Morocco’s increase in purchases of Russian diesel coincided with an increase in its exports of refined products, raising concerns that the Russian shipments are being mixed with other oil products for re-export to Europe.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, two shipments of diesel arrived in Spanish ports between January and March last year, raising suspicions because of their unusual route, being loaded in Primork (Russia) and bound for Tangiers in northern Morocco, while Rabat claims that the origin of the fuel transported was Saudi Arabia.
In Rabat, three opposition parliamentary groups recently called for the setting up of a committee to investigate “doubts and suspicions” about the import of Russian fuel by fuel companies and “the possibility of reselling this fuel to countries that prevent its import”.