Morocco Considers Russian Fuel Imports Amid Rising Energy Costs

"Morocco is likely to import Russian fuel as it imports Russian coal. Nothing prevents Rabat from doing so," said the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, during a parliamentary session on Monday, adding that "nothing prevents importing cereals from Russia or Ukraine either." However, he specified that some international banks refuse to finance imports from Russia.

In March, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Finance, had formally denied the ban on imports of Russian oil products to Morocco following the Western sanctions on Russian oil derivatives. Responding to a question in Parliament about the justifications for the origin of oil product imports at the port of Tangier-Med, she had indicated that Russian gasoil imports had increased by 13% in the period from early January to February 27, 2023. "The share of Russian gasoil imports was 9% in 2020 and fell to 5% in 2021, before rising again to 9% in 2022," she had explained.

At the end of April, the Spanish government opened an investigation into the alleged illegal entry of Russian diesel into Spain via Morocco, revealed by the newspaper El Mundo.