AFUO urges Australia to close ‘blood oil’ loophole as allies tighten sanctions on Russia

The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) has renewed its call for the Australian government to close a sanctions loophole that still allows fuel refined from Russian crude oil to enter the country through third nations. 

The appeal follows new rounds of restrictive measures by Australia’s allies: the United States recently imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil; the European Union banned imports of Russian liquified gas under its 19th sanctions package; and the United Kingdom introduced 90 new measures, including a ban on refined oil products made from Russian crude oil outside Russia. 

Despite these coordinated efforts, the AFUO has campaigned said the Albanese government “shamefully” continues to permit the import of fuel refined from Russian crude, making Australia “the single largest importer of Russian blood oil in the world.”

The AFUO has for months urged Canberra to bring its sanctions in line with the U.S., EU, and UK, and called on citizens to contact their members of parliament to demand urgent reform and action. 

“As russia bombs cities and towns across Ukraine daily — including a kindergarten in Kharkiv overnight — it’s time to stop enabling Russia’s war crimes,” the AFUO said.

The Ukrainian World Congress has also welcomed the U.S. decision to impose full blocking sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies and their subsidiaries.