Comments to be attributed to Kateryna Argyrou, Chair, Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) welcomes Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s statement in the Senate this week that “Australians do expect businesses to try and avoid their supply chains inadvertently funding Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine” and her call for businesses to “uphold that responsibility.”
This clear expectation from Australia’s Foreign Minister sends an important signal to fuel retailers and importers that the Australian community will not tolerate the continued flow of refined Russian crude oil revenues to the Kremlin’s war machine. Fuel retailers and importers have an important role to play in strengthening transparency and accountability across their supply chains. This includes investing in certification and labelling systems that can verify products are free from Russian-origin products.
While we acknowledge and appreciate the Minister’s public engagement on this issue, we take a different view regarding the statement that tracking mechanisms for Russian crude oil imports via third countries “are not in place.” The movement of oil tankers carrying refined products derived from Russian crude—particularly from Indian refineries like Jamnagar—is extensively documented and publicly accessible.
Shipping data, refinery outputs, and trade flows are monitored by researchers, advocacy organisations, and the international policy community. Given the Australian-Ukrainian community can track these shipments, the Australian Government should be able to do the same.
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has documented that 55% of crude used at India’s Jamnagar refinery in the first four months of 2025 came from Russia. Since February 2023, Australia has imported close to AUD $10 billion worth of refined fuel from Indian refineries, sending an estimated AUD $1.9 billion directly back to Russia in tax revenue.
We also welcome the Minister’s commitment to engage with the European Union on the mechanisms it will introduce in January 2026 to block Russian-origin oil from third party countries entering its market. We encourage this engagement to be geared towards meaningful domestic reform which will allow the current sanctions loophole to be closed.
Australia’s current approach – encouraging voluntary compliance while maintaining that comprehensive tracking is not possible – creates an unacceptable policy gap. It enables the continued importation of Russian blood oil while relying on corporate responsibility in lieu of robust regulatory mechanisms.
We urge the Foreign Minister to turn strong rhetoric into equally strong policy. If Australia expects businesses to avoid funding Russia’s war, the government must provide clear regulatory frameworks that make compliance both possible and mandatory.
Australia has the technical capability, international partnerships, and policy tools needed to close the sanctions loophole on refined Russian petroleum products. What’s needed now is decisive action to align trade with our sanctions and values.
Australia’s delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine demonstrates our commitment to Ukraine’s defence. Our sanctions policy must reflect the same resolve. It is time to end the circulation of Russian blood oil in Australia and ensure our actions match our principles.
