Flying on Russian Fuel?

Russian independent outlet Verstka has published a report that alleges Latvian state airline airBaltic is flying its planes with fuel from Tatarstan, violating European Union sanctions. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the state company has openly supported Kyiv and plans on resuming operations in the country.

On March 1, 2022, airBaltic posted on its Facebook page, "Our thoughts and hearts are with with the brave Ukrainian nation." The company even added flights from Rzeszow-Jasionka airport, the closest airport in Poland from Ukraine, to further support passengers from the invaded country.

In June 2022, an EU sanctions package established that "It shall be prohibited to purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, crude oil or petroleum products, as listed in Annex XXV, if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia." These restrictions did not apply to contracts fulfilled by February 5, 2023. 

Verstka claims it found evidence that the airline attempted to purchase oil from Russia 28 times from February 2022 until March 2024. Thirteen of those attempts were successful. The news outlet cited the American trade information website ImportGenius as well as a closed Russian customs database for its investigation.

According to Verstka, Russian customs records showed that the Baltic airline cancelled 15 fuel deliveries. Eleven of these cancellations occurred in 2022. However, airBaltic also cancelled a delivery in 2023 and three in 2024. 

In the two databases Verstka consulted, airBaltic is listed as a recipient of fuel. The sender is listed as "Gazpromneft-Aero." In customs data, the last nine purchases have the code "LV" as the recipient and the word "NEIZVESTNO" ("unknown") as the sender. The code for air transfers appear in the data. An anonymous customs control expert told Verstka the goods were most likely exported from Russia through a third country.

Verstka linked the oil purchases with the company Tatneft Aviaservis, a company that sells fuel for aircraft and prepares shipments from the Kazan International Airport. The enterprise is owned by Tatneft, one of the largest Russian corporations that is owned primarily by the government of Tatarstan. Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation claims that the president of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, and his family have enriched themselves from the oil company. Despite sanctions against Russia, Tatneft Aviaservis' profits have increased in 2023 and 2024.

AirBaltic and the Latvian government have denied Verstka's claims. The airline said in a statement that the Russian newspaper's sources were "questionable." AirBaltic added, "The last payments to [AO Gazpromneft-Aero] were made in March and April 2022 for services provided in Lisbon in March 2022, before the sanctions were implemented."

On March 13, airBaltic announced it had met with authorities in Kyiv to resume operations in Ukraine as soon as the airspace opens. The airline also added a Ukrainian-language section to its website.