Who keeps the Russian shadow fleet afloat?

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.4 • 202 Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As the EU prepares to target Russia’s shadow fleet in the 21st sanctions package, we’re looking at the system that keeps these ships in business. Every one of these Russian vessels carrying sanctioned goods requires port access, crews, financial services and more to stay operational. On today’s episode, Zoya Sheftalovich and Sarah Wheaton pinpoint insurance in particular. They explain how, even though European insurers pulled away from Russian-linked business after the invasion of Ukraine, some financial institutions are still supporting these ships. Also on the pod, Michael McGrath, Commissioner for justice and rule of law, arrives in Hungary today. His visit comes as Prime Minister Péter Magyar is racing to pass the rule of law reforms needed to finally unlock billions of euros in EU funds. And finally: Europe is on Ebola watch. EU health ministers are preparing to coordinate as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda grows and suspected cases test Europe’s response systems. Is your birthday coming up? Let us know and we can give you a shout out on the pod! Send us a message or a voice note on our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Some follow the noise.
0:03.3	Bloomberg follows the money.
0:05.4	Because behind every headline is a bottom line.
0:09.3	Whether it's the funds-fueling AI or crypto's trillion-dollar swings,
0:13.8	there's a money-side to every story.
0:16.5	And when you see the money-side, you understand what others miss.
0:20.9	Get the money-side of the story., you understand what others miss. Get the money side of the story.
0:22.9	Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.
0:27.7	Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 2, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.
0:43.4	The vibe in Brussels today is murky as the EU prepares to target Russia's shadow fleet again.
0:48.4	Meanwhile, experts are warning that the real weak spot might be the insurance that keeps those ships afloat.
0:51.2	Also on the pod?
0:59.2	Hungary's reform fight is getting messy with Commissioner Michael Maghath arriving in Budapest as Peter Magia races to pass reforms.
1:07.3	And Europe is on Ebola watch, with EU health ministers preparing to coordinate as the outbreak in Central Africa grows.
1:27.6	I'm Zora Shatelovitch, and with me today is Sarah Wheaton. Hey, Sarah. Hey, Zoham. You know, last time I was really happy to have you because of your food expertise. Now I'm happy to have you because of your health expertise. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but I write about them sometimes. It's basically almost the same thing. The first story we're going to talk about today is one that is close to my heart, because I've been working on this one for a while now. The EU is currently working on the 21st package of
1:32.2	sanctions to target Russia in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And one of the big
1:37.3	elements of that package is expected to hit Russia's shadow fleet. Now, these are those ships
1:42.7	that operate in murky waters. They sometimes
1:45.7	carry legal cargo, sometimes illegal cargo. They have dodgy insurance, dodgy papers, dodgy everything.
1:53.2	And they've been suspected to be behind some pretty significant incidents in the Baltic Sea,
1:57.4	for instance, with anchor dragging that has taken out some cables. So that's
2:00.9	what we're talking about here. Well, yeah, and as you were saying, they have a lot of murky backup.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from POLITICO, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of POLITICO and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.