Two of his affiliated companies have bought oil from the Russian corporation Surgutneftegaz at a price above the ceiling, which has already brought the corporation an additional $1.4 billion. Other companies linked to Halavin operated tankers that transported oil from Russia to India and China, and one of the tankers he managed has been accused by Israeli authorities of supplying oil to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Iran’s Quds Force.
“The Insider” reports that Halyavins is also related to the Russian Mikhail Silantiev, who ran the company “Promsirjeimport”. Sanctions were applied to this company twice before – for the supply of fuel to Crimea and for the supply of oil to Syria.
The price cap is a measure designed to limit revenues in the Russian budget from the sale of crude oil without causing a significant increase in prices on the world market. The price ceiling prohibits Western companies from servicing the sale of Russian oil – providing brokerage, transport and insurance services – if the price exceeds 60 US dollars per barrel. However, Russia continues to receive much-needed petrodollars for the war because the middlemen simply re-registered their companies to Dubai-registered legal entities and continued trading as if nothing had happened. “The Insider” analyzed the data of these legal entities and found that they are managed by citizens of the European Union (EU).
One of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, bypassing the price ceiling, turned out to be Latvian citizen Haļavins, who is connected to three companies registered in Dubai – “Black Pearl Energy Trading LLC”, in which he was the owner and director, and the related company “OGC Shipping LLC”. and Conmar Maritime. The first two companies purchased approximately 38 million barrels of oil from “Surgutneftegaz” in 2023 at an average price of 82 US dollars per barrel. From January to May 2024, only the activity of “Black Pearl Energy Trading” was registered in the customs documents, which, bypassing the sanctions, purchased more than 20.6 million barrels of oil at an average price of 83.7 US dollars per barrel.
As a result, Surgutneftegaz alone received about $1.4 billion more in revenue than it would have received under the price cap. The total additional annual revenue to the Russian budget from oil sales, bypassing the established threshold, is estimated at seven to $11 billion, a significant amount to support the Russian military machine.
“The Insider” managed to find out Halyavin’s connection with companies that own and operate tankers that transport oil from Russia to ports in India and China.
In an interview with “YoungShip Cyprus” in 2022, Halavins described himself as the general director of the company “Sparta Shipmanagement” and the chairman of the board of directors of the OGC group and the ultimate beneficial owner.
Sparta Shipmanagement is registered in Cyprus at the same address as Lagosmarine Ltd, both companies are now managed by the same Greek director who is also listed as their nominal owner. Judging by the shared address, Lagosmarine is linked to a shell group of companies that, according to the International Maritime Organization, own the tankers Clyde Noble, Sagar Violet and Caroline Bezengi. According to the website “marinetraffic.com”, these ships regularly make voyages between the Russian ports of Primorsk, Ustylug and Kozmin and ports in India and China. According to customs documents, the same routes were also used to transport oil sold to Dubai-based companies linked to Halavin.
Halyavins answered the questions of “The Insider” journalist: “I don’t really understand the essence of these statements and I dare to assure that I carried out all my actions within the framework of international law, including compliance with sanctions. And your reports, with all due respect, look like a provocation. I thank you and wish have a nice day.”
According to “The Insider”, the legal norms and mechanisms existing in the West are sufficient to punish citizens of democratic countries who help to circumvent trade embargoes and sanctions. Namely, Article 84 of the Criminal Law of Latvia provides for criminal liability for circumventing sanctions set by the state or international organizations.
2024-09-25 21:34:35