By Lili Bayer, ‌Julia Payne and Anna Hirtenstein

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The European Union adopted fresh sanctions against Russian oil interests on Monday, targeting traders Murtaza Lakhani and ‍Etibar Eyyub ‌for helping Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions on crude exports that help to fund Russia's war in Ukraine.

The EU has imposed 19 packages of sanctions ⁠so far, but Moscow has managed to adapt to most measures and ‌is still selling millions of barrels of oil to India and China, albeit at discounts to global prices. Much of this is transported using a so-called shadow fleet of vessels operating outside of the Western maritime industry. 

The latest EU sanctions prohibit the bloc's citizens from doing business with the listed companies and individuals, reducing their access to shipping and insurance ⁠providers. The EU has listed more than 2,600 individuals and companies in total. 

The EU has targeted nine individuals and entities supporting Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers, the Council of the European ​Union and the EU's Official Journal said, referring to businessmen linked to oil companies Rosneft and ‌Lukoil as well as shipping companies that own and manage tankers. 

The ⁠EU is expected by analysts to list more than 40 ships in Russia's shadow fleet this week, bringing the total to about 600 vessels. 

OIL TRADER LINKS TO RUSSIA

Among those targeted by the EU is Canadian-Pakistani oil trader Murtaza Lakhani, CEO of trading company Mercantile & Maritime. 

"Through his companies, he enables ​shipments and export of Russian oil, notably from the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft," said the listing in the EU's Official Journal.

"In particular, Murtaza Lakhani controls vessels transporting crude oil or petroleum products originating in Russia or being exported from Russia."

Lakhani, Mercantile & Maritime, Litasco Middle East DMCC and 2Rivers Group did not respond to a request for comment.

Lakhani, 63, runs mid-sized trading house Mercantile & Maritime Group with offices in Singapore and London. 

He started his career at global ​trader Glencore, where ‍he worked on Iraqi oil exports during the ​Saddam Hussein era and later moved to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where he acted as an intermediary between the oil ministry and international companies to sell oil independently of Baghdad. 

KURDISTAN OIL AND GAS DEALS

During this period, he helped Russian state-controlled energy giant Rosneft to sign oil and gas deals in Kurdistan, working closely with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, including during signing ceremonies at Russia's main economic forum in St Petersburg.

Building on this relationship, Lakhani partnered top oil trader Vitol to invest in a 5% stake in Rosneft’s largest oil project in decades, Vostok Oil in the Arctic.  

“This country (Russia) is the largest resource country in the world. Hampering ⁠it is a very short-term effect, not a long-term goal for anybody. They will always need Russia,” he told Russia's SolovievLive at the St Petersburg Forum in June.

The EU also listed Valery Kildiyarov, a director of sanctioned Lukoil ​trading subsidiary Litasco Middle East DMCC and a manager at another Lukoil trading business, Alghaf Marine, in Dubai. 

The EU's listing of Eyyub along with Anar Madatli and Talat Safarov related to their ties to trading firm Coral Energy, renamed 2Rivers Group, the Council of the European Union said. 

Coral Energy grew into one of the top Russian oil traders. After a management buyout and name change in 2024, 2Rivers claimed ‌the company largely stopped Russian oil trading in 2023 and quit its last contract in early 2024. 

Following UK and EU sanctions, the company said it stopped all trading activities in June before dissolving the business in August.

(Reporting by Lili Bayer and Julia PayneWriting by Louise Breusch RasmussenEditing by Mark Heinrich and David Goodman)