One of the more intriguing schemes mentioned in the documents puts Cuba at the heart of a deal to sell Russian oil to Latin America through a company registered in Panama by the Bassatne family. The Committee on Standards suggested Paterson should just be suspended from the Commons for 30 days. Ltd. and Singapore-registered PowerCo International Pte. With challenges consistently facing the energy industry, we are constantly evolving, using advanced systems, procedures and processes to provide the best answers for our clients. Surprisingly, the contract, long presented as a state-to-state agreement, was in fact signed with Sonatrachs offshore subsidiary, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands. Baha Bassatne remained the sole Sonatrach broker until Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour was appointed general manager of the company and imposed another intermediary. Khalid Mahmood (Labour) has committed up to 15 hours a month advising the Policy Exchange think tank on issues including extremism. The spoiled fuel scandal is a result of the commercial practices of the Sonatrach executives in collusion with Lebanese merchants, both of which were condoned by the relevant authorities in both Algeria and Lebanon. The Energy Ministry responded to criticism by explaining that resorting to large oil refineries made it possible to limit the commissions charged by intermediaries, and therefore limited the risk. For some 15 years, the public were informed that Lebanon was purchasing fuel from the Algerian state company Sonatrach. Sonatrach has been involved in at least two major corruption cases in the past decade, both of which involved the payment of bribes to company employees and officials. John Hayes earns 50,000 per year as a strategic advisor for BB Energy, a major trader in crude oil and other petrochemical products. MPs duly voted for it. This was on top of his standard MP salary of nearly 82,000. Following the publication of Reuters report on Thursday, Reliance said in its statement that it had purchased Venezuelan crude oil from Rosneft long before the imposition of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA in January, as the Russian company received oil in return for a reduction in Venezuelas debt. The leaked documents confirm the existence of these types of foreign companies, with at least partial Cuban government capital. Yours faithfully, Kalim Rahman. Reports obtained by LOGI show that tests of one batch of fuel showed it could contain chemical waste. The quality of the fuel was so bad that it caused material damage to turbines at both the Jiyeh and Zouk power plants. Some 22 of the biggest donors have gained a seat in the House of Lords in the past 11 years. This article was published in LOGI's May 2020 newsletter in partnership with Kulluna Irada. Instructions for the change were sent by Iulia Ispas, legal adviser to BB Energy Trading Ltd. Emails exchanged by Mossack Fonseca lawyers also point to company operations in Syria and Iraq. That the energy industry carries heightened corruption risks is well documented: when the OECD analysed 427 anti-bribery enforcement actions in 2014, they found that almost one in five related to the extractive industries. BB Energy, a leading global independent energy trading company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully refinanced and expanded a$580 millionsenior secured borrowing base credit facility (the Facility). Behind the scandalous lies and appalling plunder by the political elite and their business backers lies their drive to profit from pandemic suffering. The Covid-19 public inquiry is a historic chance to find out what really happened. Somebody did and bedlam ensued. With its economy reeling from years of recession and a sharp decline in oil production, Venezuela was already struggling to finance imports and government spending before Washington imposed tough restrictions on PDVSA in January. Listed as a director of one of the companies is a brother of Gen. Luis Alberto Rodrguez Lpez-Calleja husband of Cuban ruler Raul Castros daughter and powerful head of the Cuban armed forces business conglomerate, GAESA. 2. The documents reveal previously unknown details about the Cuban governments economic maneuvers abroad and the foreign companies that do business with Havana as some of the firms tried to hide Cubas hand in business deals to skirt the U.S. embargo. Those sanctioned include the oil trading firms Swissoil Trading and Malta-based Elemento Ltd., as well as Swissoil owner Philipp Paul Vartan Apikian, Spanish-Venezuelan citizen Francisco Javier D'Agostino Casado, and core facilitator and Italian citizen Alessandro Bazzoni. Ltd., BB Energy (Gulf) DMCC and BB Holding S.A.L. Link to this Report. Lucia Kassai and . The company, which has offices in Havana and other countries, was created to handle, among other things, its relationship with oil-exporting Latin American countries and with Cuba, Mossack Fonseca lawyer Rigoberto Coronado wrote in an email. All the other commercial activities were not affected by any sanctions because these regulations do not exist as such, he wrote in an email, adding that Mexico, Canada and the European Union have laws prohibiting their citizens and companies from obeying U.S. sanctions on Cuba. Its worth mentioning that influential Lebanese politicians, from both ends, support these companies and compete to impose them as fuel importers. By. 2022 LOrient-Le Jour All rights reserved. BB Energy Group has invested in Gasmeth Energy Global, a company focused on the responsibly extraction, processing, and distribution of methane gas from Rwandas Lake Kivu, one of the African Great Lakes. The latter said in a televised address that he discouraged Hleiss, one of his childhood friends, from going to the court. The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has absolved itself of any wrongdoing in the sale of 942,000 barrels of crude to Lebanon-based oil firm, BB Energy. After Rafik Damak was appointed by Ould Kaddour as the manager of the London branch in October 2017, the latter was able to remove many of the companys traditional clients out of the way. These high paid speeches have addressed bank JP Morgan Chase and World 50 Incan exclusive club for senior executives. These trading experts are supported by a highly skilled team of operations, shipping and financepersonnel concentrated in Athens. In response to Reuters story, Rosneft has denied it has acted as an intermediary for payments to PDVSA. The Panama Papers also show that Labiofam S.A., the marketing branch of Grupo Empresarial Labiofam, a Cuban government company that produces vaccines, medicines and other products for the control of carriers of diseases, owns shares in BioAsia Ltd. That company was founded with an investment of 10 million euros from Vietnam, southern Asia and the United Kingdom and lists Mossack Fonseca as its registered agent. Sir John's earnings put him among the most well paid MPs. The legal proceeding is not expected to be decided before next year. Digital Subscription $1,909 Premium Subscription $3,179 Best Value Maduro has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of waging economic war against Venezuela. He boldly claimed a delay would allow fossil fuels to become even cleaner. They usually resort to those intermediaries when entering new markets that are unfamiliar to them, in order to benefit from their status inside this market, which they have done in several Asian countries before building direct relationships with the clients. It targets Tarek Fawal, who is in charge of clearing Sonatrach BVIs transactions related to receiving and unloading fuel shipments in Lebanon, and is accused of bribery, forgery and using counterfeit documents, as well as Zaouk. Rosneft would also make a profit by receiving an intermediation fee, the source and an internal PDVSA document said. Paterson had, on 16 occasions, used his House of Commons office for meetings relating to his private business interests. Public debt could rise to 289% of GDP by the end of the century if climate change is left unchecked, it said. The practice has been banned since 2019, after a scientific report found it was not possible to accurately predict the probability of earthquakes linked to drilling. This was set to be voted on in parliament. Fresh scrutiny has been applied after it was revealed former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey Cox was being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds advising the British Virgin Islands' government in a corruption investigation. The instructions to the BB Naft shareholders were dated and signed in Beirut, but the agreement for the guarantee was signed by lawyers and verified by the office of the BNP Paribas bank in Marrousi, Greece. Employees are required to act honestly and ethically when dealing with business counterparts. He receives a salary of 25,000 a year. There have been unconfirmed reports that Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja divorced Deborah Castro Espin in recent years, but he remains in charge of Grupo de Administracin Empresarial S.A., (GAESA) and the governments signature port of Mariel development project. The company opened an office in Cuba, he explained, because he has been a resident of Havana like his wife and three children, all of them born in Cuba and Cuban citizens. Asked about Rosnefts offer and the fuel cargo payment, a spokesman for BB Energy said the company had not completed the transaction, under guidance from legal counsel. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of exports from the OPEC nation and the lions share of government revenues. Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Luc Cohen in Caracas, Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Julia Payne in London; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Simon Webb,David Gaffen and Marguerita Choy. Founded in Lebanon, BB Energy is one of the worlds leading independent energy trading companies, trading more than 33 million metric tonnes of oil every year. Shuja Malik of BBC Urdu visited a village where women have been hired to work in the milk centre. Since sanctions were imposed, Reliance has made such purchases with the full knowledge and approval of the U.S. Department of State (USDOS), Reliance said. Those front companies, the source added, also help Cuba carry out foreign trade transactions in U.S. dollars, forbidden by the embargo until President Barack Obama lifted the restriction earlier this year. In 2015, BB Energy won Ecuadoran contracts for more than three million barrels of naphtha, a petroleum distillate. Then Paterson resigned, cancelling future parliamentary votes. One Bloomberg report showed BB Energy had $10 billion in revenues in 2012. . BBC Arabic's Moe Chreif tells us about the biggest corruption investigation in the history of Lebanons energy sector, which resulted in allegations involving multi-million dollar agreements, bribery, and shipments of substandard oil. LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Oil trading firm BB Energy has hired Jacques Erni as its new chief financial officer (CFO) starting Aug. 2 based in Dubai, the company said. BB Energy is not known to be involved in fracking but says that it sells oil around the world - and is one of the largest traders in the Mediterranean. The BVI company was dissolved in 2015. Above all, the government remains ahead in the opinion polls even though it presides over one of the worst death rates in the world. MPs should take all necessary steps to avoid the perception or reality they are using their public position for private gain.. To enjoy unlimited access to all LOrient Today content, subscribe. The Lebanese National News Agency announced that the attorney-general of Mount Lebanon, Ghada Aoun, issued arrest warrants against 17 people working in the fuel sector because of import irregularities. After the Reuters story ran, Rosneft strongly denied the report, describing it as a blatant lie and a provocation against Rosneft. . Private landlords and housing associations may apply for a grant on behalf of tenants who meet the eligibility criteria. When MPs have lucrative side-jobs for private firms it raises questions over whose interests they are serving. He has also compared climate activists to radical Islam. Image: Cables of the electric generators in the Lebanese capital BeirutCredit: ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images, except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa. After the return of Ould Kaddour to Sonatrach as its general manager in April 2017, it was not long before he imposed yet another intermediary besides Baha Bassatne. The upgrade of the Number 10 flat is now expected to be the subject of another inquiry. How the 61-year-old embargo is blocking Cubans from finding sponsors in the U.S. BB Energy is one of the world's leading independent energy trading companies. Reliance said in its statement its purchases of Venezuelan oil from Rosneft do not lead to any payments to PDVSA. On top of Patersons 81,932 salary, he took home 8,333 a month to lobby on behalf ofhealthcare company Randox Laboratories. In recent years, the company has become increasingly active in LPG and LNG. Records of a meeting in Dubai in March of 2011 reflect a decision to significantly reduce the capital of BB Naft, held by BB Energy Holdings NV., from $8 million to $1.050 million. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to submit the form, - | 01.03.2023. Companies registered abroad are legally not Cuban, according to the source, and could be used for dollar-denominated transactions. The offer letter, seen by Reuters with its date redacted, said that Rosneft had agreed with PDVSA to pay BB Energys $26 million debt to the Venezuelan state oil company and then to seek payment from BB Energy via a bank transfer or an equivalent oil cargo. Stormy days are ahead for Algeria's state-owned oil company Sonatrach, currently rocked by two alleged corruption cases. Overview of anti-corruption in the renewable energy sector The renewable energy sector is a rapidly growing market that is crucial to increasing access to energy and supporting climate change mitigation. Successive . The Public Prosecution in Mount Lebanon has triggered a heavy-caliber scandal, by arresting two dealers who were supposed to supply the Lebanese Electricity Company with Algerian fuel used in generating electricity. The PDVSA source said that Rosneft credited PDVSA the amount, minus an undisclosed fee, and then started talks with BB Energy to recover the sum it advanced PDVSA. BBE has consolidated experience in trading, operations, chartering, logistics, storage, refining, and financing, trading in excess of 40 million metric tonnes (MT) of crude oil, petroleum product, and gas in 2021. After they didn't show up for questioning, reports suggested Hleiss and Rahme were being protected by Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh. The need for transparency in that case is even more pressing given the fact that the director of the Oil Installations, Sarkis Hleiss, is at the center of investigations into the fuel import scandal. BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Lebanon: A web of corruption Lebanon: A web of corruption As Lebanon endures worsening blackouts and fuel shortages, BBC Arabic investigates the. +44 2079380500 Company BB Energy Joey Nanaasare Current Workplace Joey Nanaasare has been working as a Business Development at BB Energy for 4 years. They include Petrobras, Vitol, and Glencore Limited. The Office for Budget Responsibility warned in July that while the costs of reaching net zero are significant, they could be much higher if the government delays acting until 2030. Hayes recently opposed a plan to bring forward a ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars. All of which can give our clients a competitive edge. The Mossack Fonseca documents nevertheless refer to Pescatlan as a Cuban company and do not identify the true owners of the company. All rights reserved. And the cosy dinners, the freebie trips and holidays, the football match tickets and the fat extra salaries to deliver for corporations must all go. Tory MP Owen Paterson announced his resignation last week following revelations of his shameless lobbying for big businesses. Fuel Oil This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 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