Taiwan has become world's largest importer of Russian naphtha

Ivan Diakonov - 1 October, 06:51

Ships from the Russian shadow fleet. Photo: Ukrainska Pravda

Despite official statements supporting Ukraine and joining international sanctions against Russia, Taiwan became the world's largest importer of Russian naphtha in the first half of 2025, generating billions of dollars in revenue for the Kremlin to fund the war.

Source: joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Taiwanese non-profit Environmental Rights Foundation (ERF), German organisation Ecodefense and international human rights organisation Urgewald

Details: According to the report, Taiwan imported Russian naphtha worth US$1.3 billion in the first half of 2025, making it the country's largest buyer. The average monthly import volume was nearly six times higher than in 2022.

The situation creates a stark contrast: Taiwan has officially joined economic sanctions against Russia and provided Ukraine with US$50 million in bilateral aid. Yet, according to the report, it paid Russia over US$11.2 billion for Russian energy imports – 220 times the aid given to Ukraine.

Overall, these purchases brought US$1.7 billion to the Russian coffers through extraction taxes. The report estimated that this amount is enough to fund the production of 170,000 Gerbera drones, which Russia uses to attack Ukraine.

The study revealed a clear divergence in the approaches of Taiwan's state and private companies. State businesses, such as the electricity company Taipower and Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC), successfully stopped using Russian naphtha and naphtha as early as mid-2024.

However, the private sector moved in the opposite direction. Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) increased its reliance on Russian naphtha from 9% before the full-scale invasion to 90% in the first half of 2025. This made FPCC the world's largest buyer of Russian naphtha from the beginning of the full-scale invasion until the end of June 2025.

Taiwan's import of Russian oil and export of petrochemical products likely produced from Russian naphtha to the US, UK and EU. Infographic: CREA

Taiwan imported 6.8 million tonnes of Russian naphtha worth US$4.9 billion from 24 February 2022 to the end of June 2025, making it the third-largest buyer in the world over this period. The key supplier was the Russian company Novatek, which is under US sanctions. Novatek accounted for 72% of all Russian naphtha imported to Taiwan.

The report also provided evidence of price cap violations.

It noted that 88% of Russian naphtha imports to Taiwan had been carried by ships owned or insured in price cap coalition countries. However, naphtha prices exceeded the set limit of US$45 per barrel, indicating sanctions were ignored. For example, on 16 September 2025, a tanker unloaded diesel worth US$43.8 million originating from the sanctioned Vadinar refinery.

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