TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
Spain seizes 13 tons of chemicals and arrests two smugglers
The Analyst
LUKOIL SANCTION BUSTING CONTINUES WITH UK COMPANY HELP
Twenty five ‘grey tankers’ each of purchased by a separate offshore company, which was linked to one or even several other firms are in fact owned by Lukoil, the Russian oil giant. The ships were previously operated by Dubai-based shell companies owned by a Pakistani shipping magnate, currently facing prosecution in British courts for defrauding investors.
All purchases were financed by Dubai’s Eiger Shipping DMCC, which belongs to Litasco Middle East DMCC, the Middle Eastern branch of Lukoil’s oil trading division. Eiger provided upfront funding by pre-chartering the vessels being prepared for acquisition, making sure they were available and paying in advance, which funded the purchase. Lukoil spent around $700m on the tankers making them around $28m each.
The price underlines their extreme age and poor condition as the scrap value wouldn’t be much less.
Since their purchase, the vessels have been used almost exclusively to transport Russian oil, with 82% of the shipments being Lukoil oil, totalling around 119 million barrels. At $60 per barrel, this amounts to nearly $7.2 billion.
Yet again a UK company has been a key player in this deliberate sleight of hand by Lukoil to cover its tracks. British accountant John Ormerod who owns Ormerod Allen & Co., has provided financial services to the shipping industry since 1990. It seems unlikely that a company with such experience and understanding of the market would have had no idea of who they were likely dealing with.
The Russian shadow fleet consists of more than 400 tankers. Despite increasing efforts by Western countries to target individual vessels through sanctions, oil companies shield them behind so many shell firms that it is extremely difficult to prove their connection to Russia.
The fleet is old and dangerous representing a serious accident and environmental threat around the world, and without it Russia would be crippled. The need to add additional tankers isn’t connected to the amount of oil being sold as much as it represents a huge pool of crude storage capacity - so that Russia doesn’t have to cut production.
The tankers leave Russia more often than not without a buyer for the crude they carry - then spot deals are made as they sail around the worlds oceans. The longer they spend at sea the price drops until someone buys it. They then unload and head home for a reload. Sometimes the tankers sit about off various countries that have been previous buyers just waiting for a deal to be made. Singapore, China and India, as well as many others, have used this to get crude at knock down prices, but the Russians eventually don’t care as long as they get something for it.
This trade is the lifeblood of the Russian war effort - every country that participates has blood on its hands but they just don’t care.
The Kremlin did not deny its readiness to fight for North Korea
Russia and the DPRK will cooperate in the military sphere and ensure each other's security within the framework of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership, said the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. "The wording in the treaty does not need clarification, it is quite unambiguous," Peskov said, answering a question from journalists about whether Russia could, under the agreement, side with the DPRK in the event of a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula (quoted by Interfax). According to him, Moscow and Pyongyang intend to be guided by the principles of this treaty in the further development of relations.
The day before, on October 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma a bill on ratification of the agreement between Russia and the DPRK on a comprehensive strategic partnership. Putin and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un signed the document in June of this year. It consists of 23 articles and de facto implies a military alliance.
In particular, Article 4 of this agreement stipulates that “if one of the parties finds itself in a state of war due to an armed attack by one or more states, the other party will immediately provide it with military assistance by all means available to it in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and the laws of the DPRK and the Russian Federation.”
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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