Germany is continuing to purchase large quantities of Russian oil. To do so, it is using India as an intermediary to bypass an EU ban on almost all crude imports from Moscow which was implemented in early December.

According to a Tuesday report from Der Spiegel, India has seen a more than twelve-fold increase in purchases of petroleum products for the January to July period year over year.

In the first seven months of 2022, the value of the imports was €37 million ($39 million), however for the same period this year it had soared to €459 million ($484 million), according to an analysis of official data performed by the outlet.

The imports from India “were mainly gas oils that are used to produce diesel or heating oil,” according to the report, which noted that New Delhi, as of late, has been producing a large proportion of those gas oils from Russian crude oil.

Germany had historically been the biggest purchaser of Russian oil. However it cut off purchases via pipelines directly from Russia on the 1st of January, despite the fact that pipeline deliveries were specifically exempted from the latest EU embargo on Russian fuels.

Destatis, the German statistical office has released official data showing that amid the sanctions, Germany has almost entirely ceased all purchases of Russian crude oil. However the statistics do not examine the purchases of Russian-originating crude oil purchased indirectly from global traders using ship to ship transfers.

Der Spiegel, citing data, noted that regardless some shipments of Russian oil purchased by India will eventually find their way into Germany in one form of another.