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Gunvor Group Ltd is a Cypriot-domiciled multinational
commodity trading A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing ...
company registered in
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, with its main trading office in
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, Switzerland. Gunvor also has trading offices in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, and
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, with a network of representative offices around the globe. The company operates in the trade, transport, storage and optimization of
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
and other energy products, as well as having investments in oil terminal and port facilities. Its operations consist of securing crude oil upstream and delivering it to market via pipelines and tankers. The company, which was founded in 2000, is the fourth largest crude oil trader in the world after Glencore,
Vitol Vitol is a Swiss-based multinational energy and commodity trading company that was founded in Rotterdam in 1966 by Henk Viëtor and Jacques Detiger. Though trading, logistics and distribution are at the core of its business, these are complement ...
, and
Trafigura Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean-based Swiss multinational commodity trading company founded in 1993 that trades in base metals and energy. It is the world's largest private metals trader and second-largest oil trader having built or ...
. The company was co-founded and controlled by Gennady Timchenko together with Torbjörn Törnqvist (after whose mother the company is named ); however, due to United States sanctions, Timchenko sold his stake in the company to Törnqvist in March 2014. Gunvor's largest single supplier of crude oil was once Russia, though the company now originates most of its crude oil from the Americas, with less than 13 percent coming from Russia. It also trades African, Asian, and South-American crude and is active on all continents. In 2011, Gunvor was trading less than 20% of Russia's seaborne oil.


Early years

Gennady Timchenko and Torbjörn Törnqvist began working together in 1997, and formalized Gunvor in 2000. In 2003, the company started operations in Geneva. According to the ''Financial Times'', until 2007 the company was a "niche player" focused on exporting Russian oil through
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, relying on the expertise of its two founders in the oil business, Russian market and transit logistics. Torbjörn Törnqvist is a Swedish citizen born in 1953. He has traded oil across the world for over twenty years, beginning his career at BP. Gennady Timchenko is a Finnish citizen born in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
in 1952. He has more than 20 years experience in the oil industry, beginning with the
Kirishi refinery Kinef ( rus, КИНЕФ), an abbreviation for Kirishi Petroleum Organic Synthesis ( rus, Киришинефтеоргсинтез, Kirishinefteorgsintez), is a Russian joint stock production association operating a large oil refinery based in ...
during perestroika, and was one of the first Russians to export oil to Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed. In 2007, Gunvor's turnover was US$43 billion, with exports of 83 million tons of oil and petroleum products (up from 60 million tons in 2006). In 2010, the company's turnover grew to US$65 billion, up from US$53 billion in 2009, with volumes increasing to 104 million tons.


Logistics and infrastructures

Gunvor has invested in oil storages facilities, railway transportation as well as port facilities and terminals, therefore ensuring a "comparative advantage over their competitors", according to Törnqvist interviewed by the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
''. According to the company website, Gunvor is associated with a railway oil transportation company ( Transoil) and owns its own shipping company, Clearlake Shipping Ltd, which shipped 30% of the Baltic crude oil (20.5 million tonnes) in 2006. According to Nefte Compass, from February 2002 to February 2008, Russian oil exports through Gunvor increased sixteen times. The company controls 60% of the volume transiting through Estonia, and 41% of that transit via the port of
Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast Primorsk (russian: Примо́рск; fi, Koivisto; sv, Björkö) is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia and is the second largest Russian port on the Baltic, after St. Petersburg. It is located on the Karel ...
. In 2009, Gunvor made major investments into physical assets such as oil terminals and facilities, the largest being into its oil export terminal in the port of
Ust-Luga Ust-Luga (russian: Усть-Луга, lit. ''mouth of the Luga'', Votian: ''Laugasuu'', lit. ''mouth of the Luga'', fi, Laukaansuu) is a settlement and railway station in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, near the Estonian border ...
on the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
, outside of
St-Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. In September 2009, the terminal was sold to
Transneft Joint Stock Company Transneft (russian: Транснефть) is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Transneft is operating over of trunk pipeline ...
. In September 2009, Gunvor made its first direct investment in oil exploration when it purchased a 30% interest in Lagansky block in the
Caspian sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
from
Lundin Petroleum Lundin Energy (former Lundin Petroleum) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company formed from Lundin Oil in 2001 and based in Sweden with focus on operations in Norway. It is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Lund ...
. The field has proven reserves of over 230 million barrels of oil. Gunvor also owns three major European refineries which are based in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The Gunvor Petroleum
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
refinery can process 88,000 barrels per day, while the
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...
refinery located in
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
can handle 110,000 barrels per day and is supplied by the Transalpine Pipeline from the marine shipping terminal in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
, Italy. Gunvor also owns a large refinery with a capacity in excess of 100,000 barrels per day located in the north of the Port of Antwerp.


Expansion

Gunvor has expanded beyond its Russian roots, and trades globally, including in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas with its main trading hubs located in Geneva, Singapore, Nassau and Dubai. The group has also opened offices in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
,
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. Gunvor has stated that it intends to develop its new energy trading division so that it will become a more significant part of a more diversified business. In 2009, Gunvor established its Global Energy division, focused on trading a broad range of energy commodities including Global Coal and Freight, Emissions and Renewables, Natural Gas and LNG and Power. The company intends to continue to expand and diversify in 2010, both geographically and across the energy value chain. Marking a new phase in its expansion into the European energy markets, Gunvor entered its first trades in the
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
, power and carbon markets in January 2010, and extending its trading capability across North West and Central Europe for physical natural gas and coal across the globe. In April 2010, the company hired traders who take responsibility for Gunvor's physical-gas positions across continental Europe, D. Smith for as a coal trader in 2010, and Fredrik Bodecke who will be responsible for the Nordic and Baltic
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
markets.


Ownership

The real beneficiaries of Gunvor cannot be ascertained. It was said that its two co-founders held an equal number of shares, with the balance being held in an employee benefit trust for senior management. On 20 March 2014 Timchenko was included on the United States' Sanctions list in the wake of the annexation of Crimea by Russia, due to his close ties with Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
. The US Treasury alleged that "Putin has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds." Törnqvist bought out Timchenko's 43.5% stake and became the nominal owner of an 87% stake in the company on 19 March 2014. Timchenko explained the sale by "anticipating potential economic sanctions" and to "ensure with certainty the continued and uninterrupted operations of Gunvor Group". The value of the transaction was not disclosed.


Controversies

In 2008, ''The Economist'' mentioned Timchenko in an article that repeated previously published statements about Timchenko and Gunvor. Both of these parties sued for libel. ''The Economist'' withdrew the contested material from its website. The lawsuit was settled in July 2009. ''The Economist'' published a correcting statement. Following the major
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
release of US State Department cables in November 2010, it was reported by the London '' Daily Telegraph'' that the wealth of the then Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
was linked to a "secretive Swiss-based oil trading firm" called Gunvor. It said that
John Beyrle John Ross Beyrle (born February 11, 1954) is an American diplomat. A career Foreign Service Officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, he served as List of Ambassadors of the United States to Russia, Ambassador of the United S ...
, the United States ambassador to the
Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
stated that close connections existed between Gunvor and the Russian Government and that he reported: "its secretive ownership is rumoured to include prime minister Putin." The newspaper went on to report that Gunvor had, however, totally refuted the existence of any links between it and Putin. Gunvor stated in response to the WikiLeaks disclosure that Timchenko and Törnqvist owned "a large majority of Gunvor" and that a "minority stake is owned by an employee benefit trust". It went on to say that "the company had taken out credit facilities which require full disclosure of company ownership". According to the former Chairman of the Russian State Duma Ivan Rybkin, and Russian
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
Stanislav Belkovsky, who was affiliated to the late Boris Berezovsky (a
Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs ( Russian: олигархи, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Sovi ...
-in-exile and a political opponent of Putin), Putin controls (among other investments) 50% in Gunvor, run by Gennady Timchenko, a close friend. In 2017, a Swedish Radio documentary presented evidence that Gunvor had been involved in a Belarusian oil smuggling scheme featuring corruption at the highest levels in the Belarus government. This documentary won the 2017 Prix Europa award in the "Radio Current Affairs" category. Gunvor denied any wrongdoing. In March 2020, ''The Sunday Times'' published an article based on an 2015 interview with Sergei Pugachev, once known as Kremlin's banker, linking Gunvor to Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
. In 2019, Gunvor "was condemned by Swiss authorities to pay approximately US$96.7 million for failing to put adequate measures in place to prevent the bribery of foreign government officials in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo in exchange for lucrative oil deals." In 2021
Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
included this as one of five examples of foreign bribery in "clean" countries in the Corruption Perception Index.


References


Notes


Further reading

* Catherine Belton, Neil Buckle
On the offensive: How Gunvor rose to the top of Russian oil trading
- Financial Times, May 14, 2008 * Gennady Timchenk

- Financial Times, May 22, 2008 * An article from Michael J. Economides published b
Human Events
*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunvor (Company) Companies based in Geneva Oil and gas companies of Switzerland Oil and gas companies of Cyprus Oil traders Swiss companies established in 2000 Non-renewable resource companies established in 2000 Multinational companies headquartered in Cyprus Companies based in Nicosia