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Gunvor

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Gunvor Group Ltd
Company typePrivate
IndustryCommodity
Founded2000
FoundersGennady Timchenko
Torbjörn Törnqvist
Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland
(head office)
Nicosia, Cyprus
(registered office)[1]
Area served
Global
Key people
Torbjörn Törnqvist
ServicesEnergy trading, raw materials
RevenueUS$150 billion (2022)[1]
OwnerTorbjörn Törnqvist (87%)
Employees (13%)[2]
Number of employees
1,700 (2022)[1]
Websitegunvorgroup.com

Gunvor Group Ltd is a multinational energy commodities trading company registered in Cyprus,[3] with its main trading office in Geneva, Switzerland.[1] Gunvor also has trading offices in Singapore, Houston, Stamford, London, Calgary, and Dubai, with a network of representative offices around the globe. The company operates in the trade, transport, storage and optimization of petroleum and other energy products, as well as having investments in oil terminal and port facilities. Its operations consist of securing crude oil and petroleum products upstream and delivering it to market via pipelines and tankers. Gunvor has a separate company, Nyera, set up in 2021 to invest in renewable energy sources. It is run by energy transition director Fredrik Tornqvist.

The company, which was founded in 2000, is the fourth largest crude oil trader in the world after Glencore, Vitol, and Trafigura.[4][5]

Today, Gunvor originates most of its crude oil from the Americas.[6] It also trades African, Asian, and South-American oil products and is active on all continents.[7] The company has stopped trading Russian crude oil, and only transacts "very small volumes of Russian oil products, a few tens of thousands of tonnes" that are compliant with international economic sanctions.[8] Natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounted for 44% of the firm's traded volumes in 2021.[9]

Early years

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Gennady Timchenko and Torbjörn Törnqvist, two oil traders, began working together in 1997, and in 2000 formalized Gunvor,[10] which is named after Törnqvist's mother.[11] In 2003, the company started operations in Geneva.[12]

According to the Financial Times, until 2007 the company was a "niche player"[13] focused on exporting Russian oil through Estonia, 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 in 1952. He has more than 20 years experience in the oil industry, beginning with the Kirishi refinery 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.[14]

Logistics and infrastructures

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Gunvor has invested in oil storages facilities, refineries, port facilities and terminals, therefore ensuring a "comparative advantage over their competitors", according to Törnqvist interviewed by the Financial Times.[13] According to the company website, Gunvor owns its own shipping company, Clearlake Shipping Ltd, which shipped 30% of the Baltic crude oil (20.5 million tonnes) in 2006.[15]

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.

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 on the Baltic Sea, outside of St-Petersburg. In September 2009, the terminal was sold to Transneft.[16]

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 from Lundin Petroleum. The field has proven reserves of over 230 million barrels of oil.[17]

Gunvor also owns three major European refineries which are based in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam refinery can process 88,000 barrels per day, while the Ingolstadt refinery located in Bavaria can handle 110,000 barrels per day and is supplied by the Transalpine Pipeline from the marine shipping terminal in Trieste, 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.[18]

In 2021, the American chemical company Dow announced a plastics recycling program in partnership with Gunvor's Rotterdam refining operation.[19]

Expansion

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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.[20] The group has also opened offices in Amsterdam, Moscow, Beijing and Nigeria.[citation needed] 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,[21] 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, 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.[22]

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 markets.[23]

In September 2023, it was announced that Gunvor would enter the metals trade again with the hiring of a veteran trader.[24] In December 2023, Gunvor acquired a 75% stake in a 785 megawatt power plant in Bilbao, Spain, from BP Gas Marketing Limited.[25]

Ownership

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Torbjörn Törnqvist holds nearly 88% of Gunvor, and the remainder is held by employees.[26] Prior to 2014, 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.[27][28][29][30][31][32] 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.[33] The US Treasury alleged that via Timchenko "Putin has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds,"[34] without providing any evidence.[35] Törnqvist bought out Timchenko's 43.5% stake and became the nominal owner of an 87% stake in the company on 19 March 2014.[36] Timchenko explained the sale by "anticipating potential economic sanctions" and to "ensure with certainty the continued and uninterrupted operations of Gunvor Group".[33] The value of the transaction was not disclosed.[36]

Controversies

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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.[37] The Economist withdrew the contested material from its website. The lawsuit was settled in July 2009.[38] The Economist published a correcting statement.[39]

Following the major WikiLeaks release of US State Department cables in November 2010, it was reported by the London Daily Telegraph[40] that the wealth of the then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was linked to a "secretive Swiss-based oil trading firm" called Gunvor. It said that John Beyrle, the United States ambassador to the Russian Federation stated that close connections existed between Gunvor and the Russian Government. 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".[41]

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.[42] This documentary won the 2017 Prix Europa award in the "Radio Current Affairs" category. [43] Gunvor denied any wrongdoing.[citation needed]

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.[44]

In 2019, Gunvor "was condemned by Swiss authorities to pay approximately US$96.7 million[45] for failing to put adequate measures in place to prevent the bribery of foreign government officials[46] in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo in exchange for lucrative oil deals."[47] In 2021 Transparency International included this as one of five examples of foreign bribery in "clean" countries in the Corruption Perception Index.[47]

In March 2024, Gunvor resolved investigations by authorities in the U.S. and Switzerland into past activities in Ecuador. [48] Gunvor accepted responsibility for the actions of certain of its former agents and employees, all of whom Gunvor stopped working with years ago and before it learned of the U.S. investigation. Gunvor agreed to pay approximately $374 million in fines and $287 million in forfeiture. The judge in the case said he was “happy to see this chapter has ended” and that he looked “forward to Gunvor’s continued participation in the market.” [49] Gunvor reportedly strengthened its compliance department.[50]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d "Gunvor". GunvorGroup.com.
  2. ^ "What does U.S. know about Putin's oil wealth?". Reuters. March 21, 2014 – via www.reuters.com.
  3. ^ "Oil traders and Cyprus". Financial Times.
  4. ^ "Secretive Russian Gunvor becomes number 3 oil trader". Reuters. 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
  5. ^ "Как устроен бизнес миллиардера Тимченко | Миллиардеры". Forbes.ru. November 9, 2012.
  6. ^ "Crude Oil - Gunvor Group". gunvorgroup.com.
  7. ^ Paul Samson (2009-04-23). "Gunvor expands into US, Latin America". Nefte Compass (requires a subscription). Energy Intelligence Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 2009-08-01. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  8. ^ "Russian oil trade: Dubai pulls out all the stops to edge out Switzerland", Public Eye, November 21, 2023.
  9. ^ "Commodity trader Gunvor triples profit to record $2.36bn in 2022 | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  10. ^ "History | Gunvor GroupGunvor Group". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  11. ^ Hedberg, Kristina; Laurin, Fredrik; Bagge, Peter (2011-09-06). "Oljehandlare – och en omvittnad tävlingsmänniska". Uppdrag granskning. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  12. ^ "Wirtschaft ist Gesellschaft | Capital". Capital.de. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009.
  13. ^ a b "On the offensive: How Gunvor rose to the top of Russian oil trading". Financial Times.
  14. ^ "Gunvor turnover rises in 2010, sees better 2011", Reuters, February 23, 2011.
  15. ^ "News - Riverlake Group". www.riverlake.ch. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  16. ^ Eric Watkins (2009-09-10). "Transneft buys Baltic oil terminal from Gunvor". Oil & Gas Journal (requires subscription). PennWell Corporation. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  17. ^ Lundin Petroleum 'Lundin Petroleum partners with Gunvor in the Lagansky block', 2 Sep. 2009
  18. ^ "Refineries - Gunvor Group". gunvorgroup.com.
  19. ^ Dow "Dow partners with Gunvor to purify plastic waste streams to scale circular plastics manufacturing", 10 October 2021
  20. ^ "Our Trading | Gunvor GroupGunvor Group". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  21. ^ Bloomberg, 'Gunvor appoints Essent's Aliabadi head of Global energy Unit', Sept 2 2009
  22. ^ "Gunvor enters natural gas, power and carbon markets - Risk.net". risk.net. 11 January 2010.
  23. ^ Amanat, Reza (13 April 2010). "UPDATE: Gunvor To Expand Global Trading Activity With New Hires". Dow Jones Newswires. ADVFN. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Oil Trader Gunvor Re-Enters Metals in Bet on Energy Transition". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  25. ^ "Commodities house Gunvor to buy gas-fired power plant". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  26. ^ Hunter, Archie; Nair, Dinesh; Di Paola, Anthony (21 September 2022). "UAE's Adnoc Considers Bid for Oil Trader Gunvor". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  27. ^ Wahlin, Erik (22 September 2009). "Den hemlige oljemiljardдren: Hans bolag omsдtter mer дn Ericsson. Nu ska han leta olja med familjen Lundin. Fцr fцrsta gеngen berдttar Torbjцrn Tцrnqvist hur han byggde upp Gunvor Group till ett av vдrldens stцrsta oljehandelsfцretag. Och kommenterar ryktesfloran runt bolaget" [The secret oil billionaires: His company has more turnover than Ericsson. Now he will look for oil with the Lundin family. For the first time, Torbjern Tčrnqvist tells how he built Gunvor Group into one of the world's largest oil trading companies. And comments on the rumor mill around the company.]. Affärsvärlden (affarsvarlden.se) (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  28. ^ Рождественский, Илья (Rozhdestvensky, Ilya) (7 December 2022). "У Владимира Путина нашлась кубышка с миллиардом долларов от газовой аферы: Из нее заплатили за яхту Graceful" [Vladimir Putin Has a Billion Dollars Worth of Gas Scam: It was used to pay for the yacht Graceful]. Центра «Досье» (dossier.center) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive
  29. ^ Шлейнов, Роман (Shleynov, Roman) (8 October 2012). "Таинственным третьим владельцем Gunvor был петербуржец Петр Колбин: Как стало известно "Ведомостям", таинственным третьим владельцем Gunvor, чье имя долгие годы держалось в секрете, был петербуржец Петр Колбин, друг детства Геннадия Тимченко" [The mysterious third owner of Gunvor was Pyotr Kolbin from St. Petersburg: As it became known to Vedomosti, the mysterious third owner of Gunvor, whose name was kept secret for many years, was St. Petersburg resident Pyotr Kolbin, a childhood friend of Gennady Timchenko]. Ведомости (in Russian). Retrieved 12 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Кто третий владелец "Гунвора"? Империя Геннадия Тимченко: друзья и знакомые премьер-министра особенно концентрируются вокруг нефти и газа. Но не забывают и о культуре" [Who is the third owner of Gunvor? Gennady Timchenko's Empire: The Prime Minister's Friends and Acquaintances Are Especially Concentrated Around Oil and Gas. But they don't forget about culture]. Новая газета (in Russian). 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2023. Alternate archive
  31. ^ Шлейнов, Роман (Shleynov, Roman) (21 January 2013). "Тимченко и КГБ" [Timchenko and the KGB]. Ведомости (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive
  32. ^ Belton, Catherine; Buckley, Neil (14 May 2008). "On the offensive: How Gunvor rose to the top of Russian oil trading". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  33. ^ a b Johnson, Luke (2014-03-21). "Timchenko sells stake in Gunvor". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  34. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russian Officials, Members Of The Russian Leadership's Inner Circle, And An Entity For Involvement In The Situation In Ukraine". U.S. Department of the Treasury. United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  35. ^ Hook, Leslie; Wilson, Tom; Sheppard, David; Massoudi, Arash (23 January 2023). "Abu Dhabi's Adnoc and Gunvor extend talks to reach investment deal: National oil group is seeking a minority stake in commodity trader as it looks to diversify its revenue stream". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  36. ^ a b Zhdannikov, Dmitry; Mackey, Peg; Bousso, Ron (2014-03-21). "Oil firms, U.S. banks trade with Gunvor after co-founder sanctioned". Reuters. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  37. ^ "La Tribune de Geneve".
  38. ^ "Vedomosti". vedomosti.ru.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "Gennady Timchenko and Gunvor International BV". The Economist. July 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  40. ^ Daily Telegraph Wikileaks: 'Putin's 'secret billions, Dec 03, 2010
  41. ^ Oil trading group Gunvor denies Putin links, Financial Times, 2 December 2010
  42. ^ "KGB-agenten och oljesmugglingen". 7 May 2017 – via sverigesradio.se.
  43. ^ "Ekot-granskning om oljesmuggling prisas". Sveriges Radio. 20 October 2017 – via sverigesradio.se.
  44. ^ Belton, Catherine. "The inside story of how Putin and his KGB cronies took control of Russia". No. 29 March 2020. Times Newspapers Limited. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  45. ^ Hoffman, Andy; Miller, Hugo (2019-10-17). "Trader Gunvor Pays $95 Million to Swiss in Corruption Probe". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  46. ^ Payne, Julia (2019-10-17). "Gunvor must pay $95 million for Congo oil corruption: Swiss prosecutors". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  47. ^ a b "CPI 2020: Five cases of trouble at the top". Transparency International. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  48. ^ Schoonover, Nika (1 March 2024). "Swiss-based Gunvor to pay $661 million for Ecuador bribery scheme".
  49. ^ "Gunvor to pay over $660 million to resolve US, Swiss bribery probes". globalinvestigationsreview.com. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  50. ^ [email protected]. "Gunvor Group Ltd. Strengthens Compliance Department, Earns Industry Recognition". Super News. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

Further reading

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