An item reported that all preparations at Constanza were completed for delivering Russian oil to Germany.(1) The Soviet steamship Sakhalin of 9.000 which was the first to be used as tanker was expected to arrive on short notice. Earlier tidings that Italian tankers would transport Soviet oil to the Bulgarian harbour Varna seemed not to be mean that this imported oil would not be again exported to Germany The Italian ships were much smaller as the Soviet tankers which draught was to large for the roads off Varna. In Varna was not enough depot capacity to store the petrol, the Bulgarian railroad company possessed just sixty tank wagons and the Bulgarian need for oil was just around 120.000 tons so perhaps this oil was assuredly destined for Germany despite what the journalist wrote. Also there is a possibility of a printing error in the newspaper.
Note
1. On 23 August 1939 signed the ministers of foreign affairs of Germany and the Soviet Union respectively Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov a pact named after them which was a treaty of non-aggression between both countries broken by Germany on 22 June 1941 while invading the Soviet Union (this invasion had as codename Barbarossa). Both countries also signed an intricate trade pact on 11 February 1940 dealing with the exchange of raw materials and military stores. The Soviet Union provided Germany with a submarine base and the use of the Northern Sea Route.
