To enjoy unlimited access to all LOrient Today content, subscribe. 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. Fuel poverty and energy efficiency are inevitably linked, the less efficient a property is the costlier it is to heat. The development has had mixed reactions. Miramar Playa. Its got through to him that there is a chance to inflict real blows on the Tories. It is up to the criminal court to render a decision on the merits of the case. All of which can give our clients a competitive edge. In the last seven years every Tory party treasurer has given at least 3 million and been offered a seat in the House of Lords. Successive . After they didn't show up for questioning, reports suggested Hleiss and Rahme were being protected by Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh. 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. Ltd., after several rounds of negotiations with a number of companies, the official added. How the 61-year-old embargo is blocking Cubans from finding sponsors in the U.S. The subsidiary subcontracted the deal to two private companies BB Energy, owned by the Bassatne family, and, beginning in 2017, Dubai-based ZR Energy DMCC, owned by Ibrahim Zaouk. This raised many questions about the timing, and the reasons for neglecting it all these past years. Sir John's earnings put him among the most well paid MPs. Corruption takes many forms, ranging from grand corruption - the capture of high office of government by elites and the uses of these offices for private gain - to "petty" corruption - the use of bribes or other 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.. A letter sent in 1998 by a Mossack Fonseca employee to the international trade office at state-run Petroecuador referred to documents sent by BB Naft required to register the company. A 2005 fax also points to an initial contact with the Venezuelan governments Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Corruption in the Energy Sector Corruption has been defined by Robert Klitgaard3 as "the abuse of office for personal gain". 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. From the beginning of the pandemic, Labour leader Keir Starmer spent nearly all his time agreeing with Boris Johnson in a show of national unity. The relationship between the BB Energy Group and Petroecuador appears to have lasted until recent days. Laurence Robertson . 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. However, the dates for the first court hearings, which will be open to the public, have yet to be announced. Mossack Fonseca was listed as the registered agent for most of the companies. The Cuban government also hid its control of offshore companies by creating still other limited liability companies whose sole objective was to appear in registries as owners of the offshore companies and disguise Cubas hand in them. 11:07 AM | 31 Jan, 2023 . In another document, the lawyer Kabalan instructed Mossack Fonseca in 2005 to issue new shares for BB Naft because the originals had been sold to BB Energy Holdings N.V., a Curacao-based company publicly listed as part of the BB Energy group. So the seller had to be told that payment would be in euros from a bank in Spain, for example, and Cuba lost on the currency exchange.. The document also said that the payment by Reliance to Rosneft would also allow PDVSA to meet unspecified contractual obligations to Rosneft. 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 low-quality fuel in question was brought to Lebanon in March, under a secret contract signed with Algerian state company Sonatrach in 2005. 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. 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 findings of another inquiry by the Electoral Commission was handed to the Tories just before the government attempted to smash up the existing standards regime. BB Energy bought oil on the day prices turned negative. This evolutionary approach not only applies to our services, but also our people. These high paid speeches have addressed bank JP Morgan Chase and World 50 Incan exclusive club for senior executives. It is noteworthy that Mr. Fawal is not authorized to sign the companys contracts, and he assured the Lebanese judiciary that he is merely a representative of Sonatrach in the negotiation processes, and not in concluding contracts. The trial is a step in the right direction, he said. . It held all the shares of Euro Foods Ltd., which was registered in the Bahamas and in turn represented ALIMPORT. BB Naft does not appear, however, among the subsidiaries listed on BB Energys Web site. The London branch of the Algerian Sonatrach published a statement through the Algerian News Agency, saying that whoever was presented by the media as an employee of Sonatrach is not, in fact, an employee in the company, but an independent marine agent who monitors shipments in Lebanon for the benefit of the companys branch in London. The Algerian company tried to imply that the issue is limited to the technical specifications of the fuel. 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. 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. 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. This article was originally published in French. . 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. Like the extractives sector, the renewables industry requires substantial capital investments, which can come with substantial risks of . 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. By Irina Slav - Sep 20, 2021, 9:30 AM CDT. In 2015, BB Energy won Ecuadoran contracts for more than three million barrels of naphtha, a petroleum distillate. Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region's best source of business information. Link to this Report. Fuel Oil The money is in our account and as yet we have not paid anyone, said the spokesman. In particular, the expensive refurbishment of the Downing Street flat. Copyright 2023 BB Energy. In one transaction, an executive from Rosnefts Geneva trading unit said PDVSA had given its approval for Rosneft to collect payment from trading firm BB Energy for the purchase of 525,000 barrels of fuel oil loaded on Jan. 3, according to an offer letter. 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. This was on top of his standard MP salary of nearly 82,000. The family controls BB Energy, a conglomerate founded in Lebanon in 1937 that buys and sells 16 million metric tons of crude and derivatives each year. State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corp., or BPC, has awarded the building contract to a consortium of Japan's Marubeni Corp., Vitol Asia Pte. Digital Subscription $1,909 Premium Subscription $3,179 Best Value We fully anticipate that the final charge will also be dismissed, he said. Public documents show for example that Vitol and Glencore have used intermediaries to funnel over US$31 million in bribes to corrupt Petrobras employees in the past so that they may win big contracts, along with acquiring other benefits. Starmer last week called on Johnson to answer, apologise and act over sleaze allegations. Still, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces sanctions, has given no indications it would take that route. 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. At the time of renewal of the contracts related to supplying the Lebanese market in December 2018, ZR Energy, owned by Teddy and Rimon Rahma, took a share of it for 3.75 USD/metric ton for Sonatrach, the thing which Tarek Fawal insisted on denying in his interview to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar. Last month he and other Tory MPs called for fracking to resume. Aguilar also has served as a deputy in the legislative National Assembly. 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. 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. Tory MP Owen Paterson announced his resignation last week following revelations of his shameless lobbying for big businesses. At BB Energy, we are constantly evolving in order to meet new challenges, while developing our personnel to ensure a competitive edge. 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. Its stated aims are to challenge what it describes as the extremely damaging and harmful policies designed to mitigate climate change. The judge is the one who has the power to add to or drop the charges.. In recent years, the company has become increasingly active in LPG and LNG. The response of Sonatrachs representative in Lebanon, Tarek Fawal, was quick, as he declared the companys willingness to cooperate with the Ministry of Energy to resolve the issues related to what he called the lack of conformity of the last shipment of fuel to the specifications, noting that this shipmentestimated at 38,000 tonswas examined by three different international offices who confirmed that it in fact met the specifications stipulated in the contract. According to documents, civil servants were trying to cover for the fact that Randox did not have the equipment it needed. For over five decades we have been applying our depth of specialist experience to oil refining, logistics, storage and financing across 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. That the committee review and comment on proposed and ongoing work to reduce fuel poverty. 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. In one email exchange in 2011 involving a British company representing ALIMPORT the Cuban state agency that handles food and agricultural imports, valued at nearly $2 billion in 2014 that wanted to open an account with the BBVA bank, a bank employee in Great Britain asked why documents related to Miramar Investment Corporation Ltd had been notarized in Switzerland. 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. Thats the case of Racuza S.A., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. Registered in: Panama Linked countries: Cuba Agent: Mossack Fonseca Search in: The Panama Papers data is current through 2015 read more Incorporated: 21-DEC-1984 Status: Active Connections: Linkurious and Neo4j Officer (3) Intermediary (1) Explore more from Panama Papers Mossack Fonseca The players Stormy days are ahead for Algeria's state-owned oil company Sonatrach, currently rocked by two alleged corruption cases. He has also compared climate activists to radical Islam. 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. Twice he was found in breach of the rules on declarations of benefits. But so much of the criticism is phrased as a defence of parliamentary standards and the good name of British democracy. Guillermo Faustino Rodrguez Lpez-Calleja also appears as the representative of seven foreign companies registered in Cuba: Acemex Management Company Limited; Caroil Transport Marine Limited; Nautilus Shipping Overseas Corp.; Northsouth Maritime Company Limited; Gulf Lake Enterprises Ltd.; Acando Shipping Co. Ltd.; and Gilmar Project Finance Establishment. Zaouk is connected to Rahmeh, however, through another company, ZR Energy SAL Offshore, of which Rahmeh is a majority stakeholder and which, along with Zaouk, has a share in ownership of the Lebanese firm Domaz Holding. Labiofam S.A. bought all the shares of BioAsia Ltd. in 2009. He receives a salary of 25,000 a year. Ukraine's track record of massive corruption in energy is a sadly familiar story. The Panama Papers, documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with the McClatchy Washington Bureau, Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, among others, contain hundreds of thousands of pages from the files of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama law firm with offices in 33 other countries. This was on top of his standard MP salary of nearly 82,000. The long list of companies linked to the Cuban government or active in Cuba also includes Sanford Management Financial Ltd.; Commercial Mercadu S.A. (linked to Panamericana); Amadis Compaa Naviera S.A.; Seagull and Seafoods, S.A.; Mavis Group S.A.; Octagon Industria Ltd; Travelnet; and Venus Associates Inc., among others. Reliance said in its statement its purchases of Venezuelan oil from Rosneft do not lead to any payments to PDVSA. Security agencies have warned against gangs attempting to kidnap unaccompanied children. Starmer even chose last week to announce that Labour was no longer in favour of abolishing the House of Lords. All rights reserved. Baha Bassatne remained the sole Sonatrach broker until Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour was appointed general manager of the company and imposed another intermediary. It is assumed that companies will have more trust in documents certified in Switzerland than in Cuba.. Yours faithfully, Kalim Rahman. Hayes declined to comment. MPs duly voted for it. Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). One Bloomberg report showed BB Energy. BBE Renewables was established to diversify from Oil & Gas by investing and financing renewable projects. The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not answer a comment request for this story. 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. 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. BB Naft was listed in the Cuban registry of foreign companies operating on the island as of April of this year, with Riad Bassatne as director. Mango madness in IndiaSouth Asia diaspora reporter Gaggan Sabherwal shares the story of the Indian couple whove employed security guards after discovering they had planted an extremely rare mango tree by mistake at $50 a mango they aren't taking any chances! MPs are elected to provide a voice for their constituents in Westminster, but when they also have lucrative side-jobs for private companies it raises questions over whose interests they are really serving, said Alex Runswick, senior advocacy manager at Transparency International UK. Yacoubian said that high-level responsibility for the secret contract with Sonatrach and years of faulty fuel imports should be explored. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg. 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. Last month, he also joined calls from Tory MPs to allow shale fracking to resume in the UK. But campaigners say that questions will always be raised when MPs take second jobs. Lucia Kassai and . Ltd., BB Energy (Gulf) DMCC and BB Holding S.A.L. 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. And most trade union leaders went down the same path. The report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers decries the environmental evangelism and virtue signalling of the governments plan to phase out new petrol and diesel engines by 2030. MP and former Tory energy minister John Hayes has been paid 150,000 by oil firm BB Energy over three years. The Swiss lawyer did not respond to El Nuevo Herald requests for comments on this story. The company did not respond to a request for 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 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. A Reuters news agency report shows that the mother company, BB Energy, was still sending petroleum to Syria in 2011. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1. In an email, an official wrote that Matt Hancock, health secretary at the time, would send a letter to universities asking for loans of the various things we need. Former prime minister Theresa May has made 842,526 giving paid speeches since March 2020. 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 . The internal PDVSA document said the sales would allow the partial completion of the financial scheme of advanced payments between PDVSA and Rosneft. For its part, ZR Energy DMCC denied any involvement in illegal practices. Instead, investigations have revealed that at least two companies owned by Lebanese businessmen, BB Energy and ZR Energy, were bringing in the fuel. Subscribe to our newsletters and offers. As working class people suffered mass deaths during the first phases of the Covid pandemic, Tory MPs and their mates filled their bank accounts. This comes on top of his standard MP salary of 81,932. When he was appointed, Hayes said he would advise the company on strategic plans in the context of changes in the worldwide energy market. BB Energy Location 12-14 Ansdell St, London, Essex, W8 5BN, United Kingdom Description Read More Industry 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. In response to Reuters story, Rosneft has denied it has acted as an intermediary for payments to PDVSA. The Public Prosecution Office began investigating them to the backdrop of the ongoing debate, in Lebanon, over spoiled fuel bought by the electricity company from the Algerian oil company, Sonatrach, which ranked thirteenth in the ranking of oil companies in the world. Lebanese judicial sources told Daraj that the investigation will not be limited to the technical specifications of fuel, but will also include the commissions Sonatrach is making. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. 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. 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. Its Havana address is Centro De Negocios Miramar, 5ta Ave. E/ 76 Y 78, Ofic. I understand Mr. Dupont-Willemin is a Swiss lawyer and I believe it is for the documents to be more transparent and trustworthy.
