Translated material
"Proctologist" for Gunvor
The Wall Street Journal announced the beginning of the investigation of the Gunvor oil oil engineer
The official representative of the businessman Gennady Timchenko Anton Kurvin called the publication in The Wall Sreet Journal a provocation about the investigation of a number of transactions of the Gunvor Group oil industry related to Russia. According to the newspaper, US law enforcement agencies are suspected by Timchenko (he is considered a close friend of Vladimir Putin) of laundering money.
Timchenko’s financial interests in the United States compared to his business in Russia and Europe are relatively small. But through the Gunvor Group , the Gunvor Group Timchenko, in the United States, founded. He sold the Gunvor shares in March this year-the day before the United States announced the introduction of sanctions against this company registered in Cyprus with headquarters in Switzerland.
Castor Oil
If we proceed from the fact that everything is so that the investigation has begun, the investigation will be extremely deep and careful. This is the style of the work of these guys
In 2009, Gunvor acquired an oil company Castor Americas . The company has been carried out since its founding from New York and Houston. In 2011, Castor Americas called itself "the largest independent producer of oil-raw oil in the West of the United States." This entry is contained on the old website of the company, which is now not updated.
The second main owner of Castor shares was, according to the Swiss register of corporations, Taurus Petroleum LTD . This company is managed by American businessman Ben Pollner . According to Reuters , in 2005, a report on the investigation, which was conducted under the control of the former chairman of the US Treasury Paul Volker , stated that Polelner through his company, paid $ 18.9 million in the form of bribes to ensure the conclusion of contracts with the UN program in exchange for the Iraqi in exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange for exchange Food ". Pollner always denied his involvement in illegal actions, the charges were not brought to him. The son -in -law of Polelner, Sasha Moritz , according to open sources, works as the director and chairman of the board of directors of Castor Americas. Last year, Gunvor admitted that the prosecutor of the Eastern District of New York summoned three Castor employees and one Gunvor employee, including in connection with the Castor oil industry. ”
The article by The Wall Street Journal, published on November 6, states that the same prosecutor is investigating whether Gunvor is buying oil from the Russian state company Rosneft for “Respiring to third parties”. According to American customs , published in March, last year, Gunvor imported at least 4 million barrels of oil products and 1 million 100 thousand barrels of raw oil in the United States, mainly from Colombia.
Is there a connection between the challenge to the court in 2011 by Castor Americas and the alleged current investigation against Timchenko, remains unclear. It is also unclear whether Castor Americas continues its activities. The phones of her offices in New York and Houston, apparently, are disabled. Mr. Moritz did not answer the request of an interview on the radio correspondent left on his phone’s answering machine.
Montana Mine
In October 2011, Gunvor, through the completely owned by the American subsidiary of PinesDale LLC, bought 33 percent of the shares of the Signal Peak coal mine in Montana for $ 400 million. According to Boich Companies , the co -owner of Signal Peak, Ohio, in 2013 at the mine was mined 50 percent more coal than in 2012.
PinesDale and Castor Americas indicate the same address in Houston. When studying the data of one of the former Castor employees specified in the professional social network LinkedIn , we can conclude that Castor took part in the expansion of Gunvor in the North American coal market.
The Gunvor website notes that the share in the Signal Peak "enhances the competitiveness of the company in the Asian market" and that the mine serves the interests of American consumers, as well as customers in Asia, which is delivered through ports on the west coast of Canada and the USA.
Lobbyists
We know that you have concerns about the activities of Gennady. We would like to discuss it
Timchenko and the company, the co -owner of which he is, hired lobbyists to protect their interests in Washington. According to Reuters, last year, in order to ensure credit guarantees of the US export-import bank to purchase several airliners manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace , the famous Patton Boggs law firm was involved. “We know that you have concerns about Gennady’s activity. We would like to discuss it,” the Patton Boggs employee said to American state officials with a request for a meeting. The letter quoted by Reuters is dated to May 2013.
The largest Russian independent gas company Novatek , 23.5 percent of the shares of which belong to Gunvor, used the services of the American company Qorvis to lobby for their interests in Washington. In its recognition of the American government in August this year, Qorvis indicated that she intends to defend the interests of Novatek in connection with the order of Barack Obama on the introduction of sanctions against Russia in response to the actions of Moscow in relation to Ukraine. Qorvis intends to intervene in the case of adoption of the law proposed by the Republicans "Act on the Prevention of Russian Aggression." However, it is unlikely that such a law will still be adopted.
"Inspection at the proctologist"
The Gunvor statement, made on November 6, notes that the company has not yet received any official notifications about the investigation struck against it, but "simply ended up at the epicenter of political battles." "All accusations of violations in our conduct of trading activities are not justified and absolutely false," the statement said.
The Volga Group , owned by Timchenko, also made a similar statement by Timchenko. It emphasizes: "Mr. Timchenko has always been engaged in entrepreneurial activity in strict accordance with the law and the highest standards of business eics."
The investigation will be a financial and legal verification, reminiscent of a "inspection at the proctologist"
However, according to Professor Houston University, Craig Pirrong , if the investigation of Wall Street Journal is accurate, then Timchenko’s sale of his share in Gunvor will not force the American government to refuse to conduct a detailed investigation into the activities of this company. Pirrong, the author of the study on the provision in the world raw material market , which was sponsored by the competitor of Gunvor, the company Trafigura , wrote on his blog on November 5 that the investigation would represent a financial and legal verification, reminiscent of, as the professor expressed, “examination by the proctologist”.
“Based on the fact that everything is so that the investigation has begun, the investigation will be extremely deep and careful. This is the style of the work of these guys,” Professor Pirrong said in an interview with Radio Liberty.