Translated material
Gunvor gave its owner a billion so that he could pay Timchenko
The owner of the Swiss company Gunvor Torbjorn Tornqvist paid himself dividends in the amount of $1 billion in order to finally pay off his former partner Gennady Timchenko. The Financial Times suggests that this amount of dividends is a record in the history of oil trading.
Timchenko sold his stake in Gunvor in 2014, when Western sanctions were imposed against him in connection with the annexation of Crimea to Russia. The transaction amount was not disclosed. The Financial Times reports that Timchenko received only part of the money for his stake in the company in 2014-2015.
Timchenko’s representative, in a comment to the Vedomosti newspaper, said : “The deal was completed more than two years ago, it was closed, the calculations were carried out. We do not comment on details regarding the procedure for settlements between the parties to the transaction.”
“The payment [to Mr. Timchenko] is final and Mr. Törnqvist or the company has no remaining obligations to him,” Gunvor said.
- Torbjorn Tornqvist and Gennady Timchenko founded Gunvor in 2000. The company has long been the largest seller of Russian oil. Until March 2014, Timchenko owned more than 43 percent of its shares. This share was sold to Törnqvist in order to secure Gunvor’s work under anti-Russian sanctions.
- Gennady Timchenko is considered one of the businessmen closest to Vladimir Putin. According to the US Treasury Department, Putin was directly involved in Timchenko's activities in the energy sector, invested in Gunvor and may have had access to the company's assets.