Italy has bought four times as much oil from Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine

In May 2022 alone, Italy imported 450,000 barrels of Russian crude oil per day. According to Kpler, a commodity data company, this is four times more than what Rome bought from Moscow in February, when Russia first attacked Ukraine.

According to a new report, Italy becomes the EU country that imports crude oil by sea from Russia the most.

An EU diplomat told The Times: “‘The continent is divided. Poland and the Baltic states want more sanctions against Russia. While Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria have a priority. their own economic interests”.

After reaching a gas deal with Algeria, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi appeared to be more comfortable with the EU’s sanctions plans.

Now, it is backing an EU-proposed embargo, which includes banning all Russian oil in Europe by the end of the year.

In 2021, the EU imported 48.5 billion euros of crude oil and 22.5 billion euros of non-crude oil from Russia.

The embargo plans met with stiff opposition from Hungary, with Budapest asking for financial support to be able to cope with the ban.

To pass the sanctions, all 27 countries in the coalition need to agree. Therefore, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed to inject 2 billion euros into oil infrastructure to convince Hungarian President Viktor Orban. This will help landlocked Eastern European countries like Hungary reduce their dependence on Russian crude oil.

Italy is also worried about pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the country’s leading gas companies has agreed to pay for gas to Russia in rubles. Specifically, energy company Eni announced that it will open an account in rubles at Moscow’s Gazprombank.

President Putin has warned that “unfriendly” countries will have to buy Russian gas in rubles before March 31, if they do not want to face supply cuts. He made it clear that in order to do so, European countries must open ruble accounts in Russian banks. Otherwise, Moscow will tear up its gas contracts.

Eni appears to have responded to the request, despite concerns that this could undermine Western sanctions.