North Korea received nearly $24.8 mln worth of refined oil from Russia: data

Seoul, September 2 - Neftegaz.RU. According to the report of the South Korean Yonhap news agency, North Korea's imports of refined oil products from Russia rose nearly 16 percent in 2019 despite global sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.

North Korea received about $24.8 million worth of oil products from Russia in 2019, up from $20.4 million the previous year, according to research by Kharon, an international security research company, based on data from the International Trade Centre.

The petroleum products were produced by two of Russia's largest energy corporations, Rosneft and Gazprom.

North Korea imported about $26 million of fuel products from Rosneft between 2018 and 2019 and about $100,000 from Gazprom in 2018, the research showed.

The increase came despite global sanctions restricting exports of petroleum into North Korea, Yonhap noted.

In response to the North's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017, the United Nations placed international sanctions on Pyongyang, limiting exports of refined oil to the North to 500,000 barrels per year and requiring member states to report to the U.N.