The contract may be summarized as follows: Sonatrach will give its name to the shipments of Baha Bassatne, who buys fuel from the Swiss company Vitol, for 3.5 dollars per metric ton, while he makes 25 dollars as profit in his deals with the end customer in Lebanon. 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. This was on top of his standard MP salary of nearly 82,000. A scandal over the import of sub-standard quality fuel into Lebanon has seen some two-dozen people arrested, two fuel tankers seized and the offices of two major fuel traders raided and sealed off amid ongoing investigations. Employees are required to act honestly and ethically when dealing with business counterparts. BB Energy Trading Ltd. BB House 12-14 Ansdell Street London W8 5BN United Kingdom T: +44 20 7938 0500 F: +44 20 7938 0501 www.bbenergy.com Page 1 of 2 ANTI-SLAVERY STATEMENT . The Web page of the Cuba-Lebanon Businessmens Council lists a Riad Bassatne as a member of its board of directors and describes him as president of BB Naft Trading and member of the board of directors of BB Energy., Wael Bassatne nevertheless insisted that there are no commercial or financial relations between BB Naft Trading S.A. and the BB Energy Group. He added that BB Nafts activities in Cuba included the sale of spare parts and agricultural machinery.. However, he expressed regret that the court system had not dug deeper. BB Energy bought oil on the day prices turned negative. After the Reuters story ran, Rosneft strongly denied the report, describing it as a blatant lie and a provocation against Rosneft. The testimonies suggest that this system has been in place for years, resulting in Lebanon purchasing tainted fuel under a contract signed in 2005 with a subsidiary of Algerias Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation. I understand Mr. Dupont-Willemin is a Swiss lawyer and I believe it is for the documents to be more transparent and trustworthy. Reuters could not independently verify that Rosneft ever made the advance payment to PDVSA. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - (This April 18 story corrects to make clear Reuters could not determine payments were made under the proposed arrangement, removes reference to Evrofinance Mosnarbank and clarifies that experts see no violation of sanctions). The new certificates, for 800 shares, were to be issued in the names of 10 members of the Bassatne family, including 160 shares for Riad Bassatne. The Russian oil scheme appears to have been affected by the agreement between Cuba and Venezuela to exchange oil for medical services, and BB Naft expanded its work in Cuba in 2007 to include the sale of spare parts and batteries for autos and trucks, work boots, farm machinery, hardware for USD 5.3 million.. Johnson even survived revelations that he would rather let the bodies pile high than push forward plans for a third lockdown. Owen Patersonthe MP who lobbied for private companies in the pandemic (Picture: Flickr/ NFU Pics). Independent MP Paula Yacoubian told LOGI that she believed Lebanese and Algerian mafias were involved in a corruption scheme tied to the fuel imports. Both Mr. Rahmeh and ZR Group have been subjected to a politically motivated witch-hunt underpinned by a campaign to distract from Lebanons political failings. Its ownership was in the form of anonymous bearer shares the owners are whoever has those shares. 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. It is assumed that companies will have more trust in documents certified in Switzerland than in Cuba.. Glencore has installed independent legal monitors to oversee its internal conduct as part of an agreement with the US government, marking a key milestone in the Swiss-based commodities house's . BBE Renewables was established to diversify from Oil & Gas by investing and financing renewable projects. Ltd., after several rounds of negotiations with a number of companies, the official added. Our experienced traders are situated in our offices throughout the globe; industry specialists who count gas, crude oil, light and middle distillates, as well as bitumen, as their specialities. The women pushing boundaries in Pakistans rural milk marketIn rural Pakistan women milk cows, but male relatives take the milk to male-run collection centres. The council set a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions for the borough by 2030. 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. Security agencies have warned against gangs attempting to kidnap unaccompanied children. Companies with Cuban capital or activities on the island. The Sunday Times newspaper has revealed a phone call on 9 April last year between Paterson and the Tory peer Lord Bethell, who was the minister responsible for handing out contracts. John Hayes works for BB Energy as a strategic adviser, Politicians accused of being worryingly cosy with oil and gas firms as its revealed almost one in ten Tory peers has financial stake in the sector. In view of the foregoing debate, were forced to return to the commercial relationship between Sonatrach and the Lebanese Ministry of Energy, and the pressure exercised by former Sonatrach CEO, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, to adopt ZR Energy trading company as a second intermediary besides Baha Bassatne, as a supplier in the Algerian companys name; the thing that occurred a year and a half before opening the file. Moreover, he denied any relationship with the ZR Energy trading company. 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. On April 15, Wadih Akl, a lawyer affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement, filed a complaint to the Mount Lebanon public prosecutors office in which he alleged that a fuel quality report for one of the tankers had been forged. This is ostensibly because it was hard for the judiciary to find evidence linking ZR Energy DDMC and ZR Group Holding SAL, despite the testimonies collected by Mansour. The branch he was managing, which was a subject for the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance, was dissolved. Hayes declined to comment. While former energy ministers who signed and renewed the contract have been questioned, they are not currently at the center of criminal investigations. The difference: The name of the BVI firm has no Spanish accents, the Cuban companys name does. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/OLJ). Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnsons former senior adviser, says that the attempt to discredit the system that found then MP Owen Paterson guilty was really about the PM and his own lies. A letter sent to the Panamanian law firm in 1997 requested assistance organizing a fishing operation in the Turks and Caicos Islands with Cuban-flagged fishing boats.. In an effort to save him even this punishment, Johnson instructed Tory MP Andrea Leadsom to put forward an amendment and set up a committee to prevent his suspension. BB Energy places emphasis on environmental protection as well as health and safety, particularly regarding oil-related storage activities. In his self-pitying resignation letter he blamed the cruel world of politics. The news website Diario de Cuba has identified the director of foreign investments at the Foreign Trade Ministry, Dborah Rivas Saavedra, as another of the directors of Racuza, Miramar Investment Corporation Ltd and Caribbean Sugar Trader. After they didn't show up for questioning, reports suggested Hleiss and Rahme were being protected by Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh. On top of Patersons 81,932 salary, he took home 8,333 a month to lobby on behalf ofhealthcare company Randox Laboratories. All rights reserved. But Cuba kept its links with some of the firms until very recently. We made a separate appeal to examine the contract with Sonatrach, but it was rejected. Four high-level suspects, including Hleiss, and Teddy Rahme and Ibrahim al-Zouk of ZR Energy, did not respond to court summons and arrest warrants were issued for them. 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. Plus, it is still not taking any of the precautions necessary today. 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. At BB Energy, we are constantly evolving in order to meet new challenges, while developing our personnel to ensure a competitive edge. Yes! BB Energy is part of the Electricity, Oil & Gas industry, and located in United Kingdom. Sir John's earnings put him among the most well paid MPs. The arrangement would also allow the cash-strapped Venezuelan state company to receive faster payment, sometimes avoiding the usual 30-to-90 day timeframe for completing oil transactions. Instead, investigations have revealed that at least two companies owned by Lebanese businessmen, BB Energy and ZR Energy, were bringing in the fuel. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package. The offer letter, seen by Reuters with its date redacted, said that Rosneft had agreed with PDVSA to pay BB Energy's $26 million debt to the Venezuelan state oil company and then to seek. Regardless of whether payments flowed directly to PDVSA or remained in Russia to pay down debt, the proposed approach appears to present no violation of sanctions by any of the entities because no U.S. citizens, currency, companies or financial institutions seem to be involved, according to four sanctions experts consulted by Reuters. Labiofam S.A. bought all the shares of BioAsia Ltd. in 2009. Tens of thousands of teachers take action, Some workers defied a government strike ban, Teachers report more picket lines than last time, This article is over 1 years, 3 months old, Its not just the bodies that Boris Johnson let pile highits the cash too, reports Sam Ord. The Lebanese judiciary expanded investigation into the fuel import file, and considered that the Algerian company charges commissions just because it is a front for the actual fuel supplier. The company said it saved Ghana over $2.8million when it sold the crude to the firm at a discount of $2 instead of the normal $5 a barrel. Sabradell was the sole owner of Resimevis Ltd, a Mossack Fonseca client since 1995 dedicated to general commerce of medical products and equipment., Whats more, a 2015 email indicated that the sole purpose of Curtdale Investments Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands, was to hold the shares of Ardpoint Company Inc., which in turn owned Altabana S.L. For some 15 years, the public were informed that Lebanon was purchasing fuel from the Algerian state company Sonatrach. 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. BB Energy ("BBE or the Group") was established by the Bassatne Family who started a commodities business in Lebanon in 1937, trading grain and asphalt. The Lebanease newspaper, Al-Akhbar, published a tweet by the Former Energy Minister, Nada Boustani, in which she spoke of ministerial reports confirming the poor quality of fuel and demanding to go on with punitive measures against the suppliers. The Lincolnshire MP recently criticised the governments plan to bring forward a ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars, saying that a delay would allow fossil fuels to become even cleaner. Forgery, using counterfeit documents, bribery, fraud and professional misconduct these are the charges brought against 22 people and entities following a pretrial investigation into a case of. A former Conservative minister who has criticised climate change policies and joined calls to restart fracking has been paid 150,000 by an oil firm, openDemocracy can reveal. This is an actual Pandoras box that goes far beyond the chapter currently in the hands of the judiciary, he said. It is up to the criminal court to render a decision on the merits of the case. Add your voice to our engaged subscriber community and be part of the change. Companies registered abroad are legally not Cuban, according to the source, and could be used for dollar-denominated transactions. Multimillionaire donors seem almost guaranteed a peerage, according to a report by the Open Democracy thinktank and the Times newspaper. Their statement mentioned that it was all about a dispute with their client in Lebanon, the Ministry of Energy and Water, around a defect in a shipment that was directed to a company under its supervision, which is EDL, a Lebanese power company. The statement added that the London branch is trying to sort out the problem with the client through continuous discussion, and that it will soon be solved, as the relationship between Sonatrach and the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water is excellent. Although Labour can now pick up on details of outrageous behaviour, it never offered a different strategy to that which put people before profits during the horror of the pandemic. Yahya Mawloud, the operations manager of Middle East Power, the company operating the reciprocating engines installed in Zouk and Jiyyeh where the tainted fuel was destined for, had sounded the alarm about the poor quality of fuel in March 2020. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. The procedures may take a long time, particularly because the number of defendants is high. Rosneft, which has heavily invested in Venezuela under President Vladimir Putin, did not respond to a request for a comment before Reuters published its story on Thursday. Paterson had, on 16 occasions, used his House of Commons office for meetings relating to his private business interests. Published by Larkham Printers & Publishers Ltd, Correspondence address: PO Box 74955, London E16 9EJ | company registered in England & Wales, number: 1335756, registered address: 71-75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ. . Peter Quinter, an expert on U.S. embargo laws and former head of the International Law section of the Florida Bar Association, said the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba generally bars a company with a U.S. presence from doing business with Cuba directly or indirectly through an offshore branch, for example. 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. What's more, one of the Algerian state-owned energy firm's subsidiaries has found itself in the crosshairs of a Lebanese court. However, the criminal court announced his innocence to the Algeria Judicial Council, which was concerned with the ongoing investigations in the second Sonatrach case. It is also worth noting that Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour used to be the manager of a Sonatrach branch at the beginning of the millennium before he was imprisoned on account of leaking information classified as military secrets. 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. Above all, the government remains ahead in the opinion polls even though it presides over one of the worst death rates in the world. My journey to journalism: Elodie TotoElodie Toto of BBC Afrique tells the story of what inspired her to become a journalist, and takes us on a journey from the suburbs of Paris to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The allegations did not prevent the Energy Ministry from awarding it a spot fuel import contract in January to partially fill the gap created by the end of the contract with Sonatrach, after the latter did not renew the deal. The latter said in a televised address that he discouraged Hleiss, one of his childhood friends, from going to the court. Ltd. and Singapore-registered PowerCo International Pte. The analysis and opinions they express through LOGI are their own and do not reflect the view of their respective employers. There is no overlap of ownership or management between the two companies, a representative of ZR Energy DMCC told Le Commerce du Levant. In recent years, the company has become increasingly active in LPG and LNG. An accountant for the British company All Worlds Food Ltd, Jose Da Silva, answered: I do not know the reasons why the documents were certified by a Swiss notary. 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