Morocco has opted not to participate in the votes on the United Nations General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This political stance has also reportedly manifested, according to international media, in a certain level of economic «support» for Moscow. Here's an explanation. DR ‹ › On June 30, 2025, Spanish newspaper El País reported that «Spanish imports of Moroccan diesel» had reached «a record level, amid suspicions of Russian origin». Ten months later, Africa Intelligence provided new insights into a matter that continues to raise questions on the other side of the Mediterranean, particularly as Morocco is not a petroleum-producing country. «In 2025, despite international sanctions, Morocco became the main importer of Russian-origin fuel in North Africa. A discreet Geneva-based trader managed to position himself in this market», the French outlet reports. An «enigmatic Swiss trader» is thus said to be at the center of Russian oil deliveries to the kingdom. The report points to Niels Troost, operating through his company Paramount Energy & Commodities SA. He is believed to have capitalized on the reconfiguration of global energy flows to position Morocco as a strategic hub for fuel originating from Russia. Russian oil, subject to sanctions by the European Union since February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, is reportedly sold at around $22 below market prices per barrel. In October 2025, the EU's 27 member states decided to further tighten restrictions on Russia's energy sector, including a complete halt to Russian LNG imports by the end of 2026, as well as measures targeting the so-called «phantom fleet» of tankers used to circumvent sanctions. Spanish media have also repeatedly reported the presence of vessels linked to this fleet in or near Moroccan waters in the Mediterranean. A topic absent from Moroccan political debate The circumvention of European sanctions does not rely solely on maritime logistics; it also involves financial channels. In this regard, Africa Intelligence mentions the alleged involvement of two Moroccan banking institutions in these operations. Since March 2022, the European Union has excluded several major Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system to limit Moscow's ability to finance its war effort. While international media continue to scrutinize oil exchanges between Rabat and Moscow, the issue has largely disappeared from Morocco's domestic political debate. An initiative by some opposition parties to establish a parliamentary inquiry commission failed in April 2023 following the withdrawal of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces. For its part, the government led by Aziz Akhannouch has downplayed the scale of the increase in Russian petroleum imports, citing limited growth. «In 2020, the share of Russian diesel imports was 9%. It fell to 5% in 2021, before rising again to 9% in 2022», government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas said during a press briefing on March 2, 2023.
