Albanian ports – new loophole for Russian oil
On October 16, 2025, the European Commission announced that the Republic of Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Moldova have taken another step towards obtaining full membership in the European Union. These four states have officially joined the pan-European SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payment system, which will allow citizens and companies of this four to carry out financial transactions faster and cheaper. SEPA unites all 27 EU countries, as well as Great Britain, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican. The accession of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Moldova to this system, de facto, means their inclusion in the single space of European non-cash payments. According to the calculations of the European Commission, the participation of the specified states in SEPA will reduce the costs of transfers and payments in euros, saving citizens and businesses of this four to €500 million. For countries aspiring to become full members of the EU, this event was a notable step in the process of integration into the EU’s economic infrastructure.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen, during the first EU-Western Balkans Investment Forum (Tirana, 13-14.10.2025), called Albania’s accession to SEPA «a vivid example of the country’s financial integration with EU». She stated that during the first week of October this year, the transfer of funds from Brussels to Tirana took 3-4 days and cost €80, while already in mid-October (after joining SEPA) the same transfer takes place in a matter of minutes and takes place for free.
At a symbolic level, Albania’s accession to SEPA means growing confidence in it on the part of its European partners. In addition, the European Commission approved the allocation of funding for the Republic of Albania as part of the Western Balkans economic growth program until 2027: official Tirana will receive €99.3 million.
At the same time, Albania continues to take certain steps that contradict its status as a candidate country for joining the EU (received back in 2014). The fact is that the candidate countries are obliged to agree with the EU not only financial and economic standards, but also foreign policy positions. This is exactly what high-ranking officials from EU institutions constantly emphasize in the course of communication with the leadership of Serbia (a candidate country since 2012), which embodies an inconsistent and multi-vector foreign policy, in particular, official Belgrade resolutely refuses to join EU sanctions against Russia. Unlike Serbia, the Republic of Albania joined the EU’s sanctions policy against the Russian Federation at the very beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and supported all sanctions introduced after February 2022. At the same time, Albania has not stopped helping Putin’s dictatorship sell Russian oil to circumvent EU, British, Norwegian, US and Canadian sanctions.
It became known that the Russian Federation and Libya are successfully using Albanian seaports to supply their oil and oil products (mostly diesel fuel) to the markets of European countries. Usually, «black gold» from the mentioned two states are recorded in the consignment notes as building materials and thus deceive the employees of the customs and tax services during inspections in ports. It is clear that some employees of the port infrastructure perfectly understand that there are fake tax returns, therefore, for the unhindered operation of this channel of supplies of Russian and Libyan energy carriers, the practice of distributing bribes to all «people needed» is used. In addition, there is a scheme in which oil or oil products are banally hidden in the compartments of ships that are specially converted for smuggling needs. For the most part, ships involved in the transportation and delivery of oil from Russia or Libya to Albanian ports are old tankers that use the flags of little-known countries (for example, Tanzania or Liberia), registered with offshore companies and registered for routes that involve towing or entering the port for repairs.
It should be noted that Albanian law enforcement and judicial authorities are trying to fight against illegal supplies of Russian and Libyan oil. Thus, during 2022-2024, more than 750,000 liters of smuggled fuel were confiscated in the port of Durres (the second most populous city in Albania). In January 2025, two vessels – «Besart» and «Aya Zanoubya» were detained in Porto Romano, the declarations of which indicated the transportation of cement. However, a proper inspection revealed about 600,000 liters of diesel fuel manufactured in Russia on these ships. Looking into the transport documentation, Albanian customs officials discovered that just three weeks before this incident, the vessel «Aya Zanoubya» had moored in the same port, citing a technical defect that allegedly prevented the vessel from continuing to its declared destination. And that time the declared cargo was also cement. Sometime earlier, in 2022, the vessel «Queen Majeda» was detained in Porto Romano, bound from the city of Benghazi, which contained 2.6 million liters of fuel manufactured in Libya in its holds. Incidentally, as far as oil supplies to Albanian ports from Libya are concerned, they are indirectly also linked to Russia, since the transportation of oil by smuggling is carried out from that part of the sea coast, which is currently controlled by various Libyan military groups working closely with Moscow (both the Russian Ministry of Defence and Russian private military companies). Moreover, the Russians and representatives of the Libyan army under the command of Khalifa Haftar jointly organize similar schemes throughout the Mediterranean Sea.
At the same time, representatives of the authorities and law enforcement agencies of Albania admit that, despite their efforts, illegal deliveries of «black gold» and petroleum products continue. The Albanian prosecutor’s office states that the hubs of shadow imports are the harbors of Durres and Porto Romano. Also, according to her assessment, the supply of contraband oil to Albanian ports is not carried out by individual companies, but by international criminal networks, which are used en masse by old tankers and offshore companies to carefully hide the real routes of ships.
Thus, Albania, which aspires to become a full member of the EU by the beginning of 2027, faces a difficult task to intensify the fight against illegal trade in its own seaports and block illegal supplies of oil and oil products from Russia and Libya.