One of the largest British oil refineries concluded an agreement on a credit line with a division of the Russian company Lukoil. Its founder and shareholder is Vagit Alekperov, a billionaire sanctioned in Great Britain.
This is reported by The Guardian.
The British company Essar Oil has decided to stop importing Russian fuel after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
However, according to recent reports, Essar Oil provided a credit line to Litasco, the oil trading division of one of the largest Russian companies, Lukoil.
Essar Oil is part of the Essar Group, owned by Indian billionaires, the Roy brothers. The company entered into an agreement with Litasco for an "extended payment line" for $500 million in crude oil. The deal effectively allows Essar to buy fuel and pay later.
The two-year contract expired in May 2023. However, before Essar paid off Litascoʼs debt, the deal was extended to June 2024.
Although sanctions have been imposed on Lukoil in the USA, the company is not subject to sanctions in Britain and the EU. Litasco itself is not subject to sanctions in any of the countries.
Lukoil founder Alekperov stepped down as director of the company shortly after being sanctioned, but he is still a shareholder in the company.
In November of last year, the Supreme Court of Britain ruled in Litascoʼs dispute with the Senegalese oil company that neither Litasco nor Lukoil could be considered controlled by the sanctioned Alekperov.
During this case, the Senegalese company argued that Litasco should be sanctioned because it is somehow controlled by either Alekperov or Putin.
The judge rejected that argument, saying Putin had no influence over the company. He added that cooperation with Litasco is unlikely to benefit Putin.
A representative of Essar Oil then said that the company had completely stopped importing Russian fuel many months before the deadline set by the government and was ramping up its own production. He also added that the organization seems to act strictly according to the law.
- On November 9, Politico found a sanctions loophole in Bulgaria, thanks to which Russia earned a billion euros. Bulgaria allowed millions of barrels of Russian oil to enter the local Lukoil refinery, which then exported the fuel abroad, including to EU countries.
- In early December, the Bulgarian government unanimously decided to ban the export of fuel produced from Russian oil from January 1, 2024. In addition, since March 1, the Lukoil plant has been banned from processing Russian oil.