Despite the fact that the European Union decided to cut Russian oil imports by 90% by the end of the year, Italy became the only country in Europe to increase it, AP reports.

The EU oil embargo is currently jeopardizing one of Italy's largest oil refineries, located in Sicily, which could deal an economic blow to the economy of the depressed region.

Italy has agreed with its EU partners to cut Russian oil imports by 2023, a move that Prime Minister Mario Draghi has described as a total success that was unbelievable just a couple of days ago.

But Rome also has to deal with the fate of an oil refinery in Sicily owned by the Russian company Lukoil. As a result of previous sanctions against Russia, ISAB Srl paradoxically moved from processing 15% of Russian oil to 100%.

This is because banks have refused to take the risk of providing a loan to the Russian-controlled company ISAB that would allow it to buy oil from non-Russian sources, even if it is not expressly prohibited, said Matteo Villa, an energy analyst at the ISPI think tank in Milan.

Vessels continue to arrive at the port refinery with crude oil from the Russian parent company.

In May, Italy received about 400,000 barrels of Russian oil per day, four times the level before the war in Ukraine, according to Kpler. Of this amount, ISAB received 220,000 barrels.

Italy is the only country in Europe increasing oil imports,” Villa said, having gone from being the sixth largest importer of Russian oil to the largest in the three months since the war.