the Latvian helps the Russian Federation to sell oil at a price above the ceiling
The companies associated with the citizen of Latvia Aleksei Halyavin became one of the largest buyers of Russian oil, bypassing the price ceiling established by the G7 countries, according to The Insider publication, which studied the data of companies registered in the UAE.
According to the publication, three such companies are associated with Khalyavin: Black Pearl Energy Trading (Khalyavin was its owner and director) and its affiliates OGC Shipping and Conmar Maritime.
In 2023, according to reports, the first two companies purchased about 38 million barrels of oil from the Russian company “Surgutneftegaz” at an average price of $82 per barrel, and in January-May Black Pearl Energy Trading purchased 20.6 million barrels of oil at an average of 83, 7 per barrel. As a result of transactions with these companies, “Surgutneftegaz” received 1.4 billion more in revenue than it could have received if it had sold oil at a price not higher than the ceiling of 60 dollars per barrel, journalists note.
The Insider established Halyavin’s connection with companies that own and operate tankers that travel between Russian ports and ports in India and China along the same route as oil sold to Dubai companies linked to Halyavin. It is also claimed that one of the tankers associated with Halyavin’s companies supplied Iranian oil to the Lebanese Hezbollah group (recognized as terrorist in the US) to circumvent sanctions.
Alexey Khalyavin wrote in response to a request from The Insider journalist: “I don’t really understand the essence of the messages and dare to assure you that all my actions are carried out within the framework of international law, including compliance with sanctions. And your message looks like a provocation, with all due respect. Thank you and have a good day.”
At the end of 2022, the G7, the EU, Switzerland and Australia agreed on a price ceiling for Russian oil at the level of 60 dollars per barrel. Companies from these countries are prohibited from providing transport, insurance and brokerage services for Russian oil if it is sold for more than 60 dollars per barrel, notes “Nastoyaschee Vremya”.
The purpose of the price ceiling established by Western countries is to reduce Russia’s oil and gas revenues, which can be used to finance the war against Ukraine. Despite the restrictive measures, according to The Insider, Russia receives about 7–11 billion dollars per hour from the sale of oil above the ceiling.
