(February 06-2023)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said the private sector of almost the entire world, including western countries, is disobeying sanctions imposed on Russia.
Hundreds of oil tankers are quietly selling Russian oil around the world for many months and the number of such ships is constantly increasing, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the oil tankers are being paid ten times more than usual and that is why shipping has become the most profitable business in the world.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the business community is reaping handsome profits by conducting business with Russia and it is minimizing the risk of recession in the world.
The business leader said that at present thirty percent of Russian oil is being sold quietly without any trace of it.
Many countries, including China, are also engaged in ensuring their energy security by storing Russian oil on a large scale, he added.
He said that a huge increase in the suspicious movement of ships has been noticed; in the South Atlantic alone, there has been a 470% increase in the suspicious activities of ships in 2022 compared to 2021. A 150 percent increase in suspicious activity has been recorded in the Central Atlantic, while a 100 percent increase in suspicious activity has been recorded in the shipping hub of Greece.
The Western countries that took the lead in imposing sanctions on Russia also understand the situation, but action against even one ship would mean a new global crisis and an intolerable rise in oil prices, which oil-importing countries do not want because they are already under financial stress.
The United States is also not in a position to take the risk of meddling with the oil market at this time because the United States has experienced eight recessions in its history, six of which were linked to oil prices, while the economic conditions of the United States affect the entire world.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that companies working in many other sectors are also secretly doing business with Russia, in which they are getting much more profit than usual which is stabilizing the Russian economy.
He informed that Pakistani smugglers are buying the cheapest diesel and petrol from Iran and selling it in Pakistan, and if it is brought legally, then the people of Pakistani cities near the Iranian border will be able to get legitimate and legal employment.
The burden on the economy will be slightly reduced with the help of Iranian fuel, besides there is a need to speed up efforts to get cheap oil from Russia.
