Russia is set to increase its diesel exports next month before European Union sanctions on crude oil start in February, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Fuel shipments from Russia’s ports in the Baltic and Black Sea will surge to 2.68 million tonnes in January, a hike of 8% on December’s planned flows and the highest export rate since at least January 2020, the report said, citing industry data.

The Russian loading plans only include exports of diesel delivered to the nation’s ports by pipeline and some additional smaller volumes that can be transported by rail. The data for Primorsk also includes planned exports of 120,000 tonnes of diesel from Belarus, the report added.

Putin bans Russian oil exports to countries that imposed price cap

The European Union will ban Russian oil product imports, on which it relies heavily for its diesel, by Feb. 5. This follows a ban on Russian crude that took effect in December.