Overview
- Reporters cite bank and customs records indicating 1.3–1.5 million barrels of refined petroleum reached North Korea in 2024, far above the UN’s 500,000‑barrel annual cap.
- More than 40 North Korean tanker calls to Port Vostochny were documented, with at least about 315,000 additional barrels moved overland via the Hasan–Rason rail link.
- Leaked ledgers show Moscow trader Yuzhnaya Zheleznodorozhnaya Ekspeditsiya made timed payments to port operator TBK as shipments moved, with transactions routed through CMRBank and Promsvyazbank, which extended nearly 1 billion rubles in credit to the trader.
- Supply chains identified include Slavyansk ECO, co‑owned by regional lawmaker Robert Paranyants, alongside Forteinvest and Energocity linked to prominent businessmen and a former regional customs chief.
- Vladivostok exporter Inrostopt processed payments through UAE firms Amax General Trading and SGravity General Trading, while fellow exporter Atlant Export took large cash deposits as cargoes were consigned to Ka The, Future Electronic Company and Okryu, entities previously flagged by UN experts or sanctioned by the United States.