Russia taps Vietnam to oil dodge sanctions and boost war financing, intel warns
Photo: Russia organized a scheme to circumvent oil sanctions via Vietnam (Getty Images)
Russia is expanding a network of international partnerships designed to help it evade sanctions and secure financing for its invasion of Ukraine. The latest element of this strategy is a series of agreements between the Russian Federation and Vietnam, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR).
According to HUR, the package of signed documents provides for expanding joint oil and gas extraction on Russian territory and on the Vietnamese shelf with the involvement of the companies Zarubezhneft, PetroVietnam, and the joint venture Vietsovpetro.
Vietnamese and Russian entities will receive additional licenses to develop new subsoil areas in Russia’s Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as well as extensions of existing licenses until 2050.
At the same time, the agreements include the right to establish subsidiaries in third countries, which opens the possibility for exporting Russian oil disguised as Vietnamese and hiding the true origin of the energy resources.
Particularly notable is the provision in the Russia-Vietnam agreement that sets a minimum oil sale price of no less than $75 per barrel, which is significantly higher than the EU’s price cap of $47.6 per barrel introduced in July 2025.
Given the Kremlin’s attempts to lock in a “guaranteed” oil price in the long term, it is highly likely that Russian intelligence services will intensify operations interfering in international energy supply chains – including possible sabotage of infrastructure facilities in foreign countries.
As a reminder, in October, the United States announced sanctions against two of Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in order to push Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine. The new restrictions from Washington target not only the two main companies but also 36 subsidiary entities.
Also in October, the European Union officially approved a new – the 19th – sanctions package against Russia. The restrictions aim to reduce Kremlin revenues and prevent sanction evasion through third countries.
In addition, the EU has already begun preparing a new sanctions package against Russia. Among other measures, sanctions against the Belarusian regime allied with Moscow are being considered.
