Ukraine has started importing U.S.-made diesel fuel almost a year after Russia’s invasion, local specialised news agency Enkorr said.

Most Ukrainian diesel fuel imports used to come from Russia and Belarus but Kyiv stopped those imports after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and refocused on European suppliers.

Enkorr said the first U.S.-made diesel had arrived in Ukraine in early February and was bought by UPG fuel company.

“A 100,000-tonne tanker came to the port of Hamburg, from where we pick up the product in smaller 30,000-tonne tankers and transport it to our terminal in Poland,” Enkorr quoted UPG as saying.

The diesel is produced by Marathon Petroleum Company, Enkorr said.

“This is a very symbolic event, as it shows how the Ukrainian and European markets are transforming as a result of anti-Russian sanctions,” Serhiy Kuyun, director of A-95 consulting group, said in statement.

UPG operates 81 fuel stations across Ukraine.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)