Finance & economics | Diversionary tactics

What can Russia do to sell its unwanted oil?

China and India sniff a bargain

ON FEBRUARY 22ND, two days before Russia invaded Ukraine, a German-flagged vessel left the Russian port of Primorsk loaded with 33,000 tonnes of oil. When it reached Tranmere, a British oil terminal, on March 3rd, it received a frosty welcome. Some dockers refused to unload the freight when they learnt where it had come from. Similar boycotts have sprung up elsewhere. Kayrros, a data firm, estimates that the volume of oil “on water” rose by nearly 13% in the fortnight after the invasion, in large part as undelivered Russian cargo sought new takers. The number of vessels returning to Russia also jumped.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Diversionary tactics”

Why Ukraine must win

From the April 2nd 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

The federal reserve represented as a slot machine with bitcoin coins at its base.

Will America’s crypto frenzy end in disaster?

Donald Trump’s team is about to bring digital finance into the mainstream

A ping pong game with a container instead of a ball.

Do tariffs raise inflation?

Usually. But the bigger problem is that they harm economic growth and innovation


A Gulfstream G600 from Hampshire Aviation Company lands at Barcelona Airport in Barcelona, Spain.

European governments struggle to stop rich people from fleeing

Exit taxes are popular, and counter-productive


Saba Capital wages war on underperforming British investment trusts

How many will end up in Boaz Weinstein’s sights?

Has Japan truly escaped low inflation?

Its central bankers are increasingly hopeful

How American bankers dodged the MAGA carnage

The masters of the universe have escaped an anti-globalist revolt