airBaltic has strongly denied claims made by a news website that it purchased Russian fuel in breach of EU sanctions put in place after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In an article on March 13, 2025, Verstka alleged that airBaltic attempted to purchase Russian fuel on 28 occasions between February 2022 and March 2024.
Verstka claims that during this period airBaltic was successful 13 times, but on 15 other occasions the transactions were cancelled.
However, Verstka noted that it had been advised by a customs expert that a cancellation did not necessarily mean that goods were not released abroad.
Sanctions banning the transportation of fuel originating in Russia were introduced in June 2022, as part of a sixth package designed to weaken President Vladimir Putin’s government after invading Ukraine in February 2022.
The original EU sanction document said: “It shall be prohibited to purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, crude oil or petroleum products if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia.”
However, the ruling did not apply to “one-off transactions for near-term delivery, concluded and executed” before February 5, 2023.
It is not clear why Verstka is highlighting transactions that allegedly occurred before EU sanctions were put in place banning imports of Russian fuel.
Verstka claims airBaltic purchased fuel from Gazpromneft-Aero in February and March 2022 – before sanctions were introduced – and then 11 times from Tatneft in 2023.
The 15 cancelled purchases spread across 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The Russian news website reported that its information had been sourced from two databases, including ImportGenius and an unnamed system that logs Russian foreign economic activity.
According to the article, the customs expert suggested that Russian fuel could have been exported by air to a third-party country and then delivered to Latvia by other means of transport.
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airBaltic told AeroTime that “the aforementioned database does not provide complete and verifiable information about the company’s transactions,” and the airline “distances itself from any unfounded allegations”.
In the specific claims made by Verstka in its article, airBaltic said: “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the entry into force of EU sanctions, airBaltic has not been cooperating with Russian fuel suppliers and has not made any payments to Russian companies”.
airBaltic said that the “last payments to Gazpromneft-Aero were made in March and April 2022 for services provided in March 2022, before the introduction of sanctions”.
Regarding Tatneft, airBaltic said the “last payment was made in November 2021, i.e. before the start of the war”.
“The EU sanctions restrictions on aviation fuel entered into force in June 2022, and airBaltic strictly adheres to them,” added airBaltic.
In an additional statement posted on social media, airBaltic said: “We would like to inform that the airline airBaltic does not make fuel payments to companies from Russia. Furthermore, airBaltic does not cooperate with and has no contractual relations with Russian fuel suppliers.”
The airline added: “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the implementation of the relevant fuel import sanctions imposed by the European Union, airBaltic has not cooperated with and has no contractual relations with Russian fuel suppliers.”
