Media: Alkagesta illegally shipped Russian oil to Libya using “dark fleet” schemes

Media: Alkagesta illegally shipped Russian oil to Libya using “dark fleet” schemes

According to media reports, EU and UK authorities are probing Alkagesta over illegal Russian oil deliveries to Libya.

The firm, which runs the most extensive oil bunkering operations in Malta, has also been suspected before of engaging in Libyan oil smuggling, sometimes using counterfeit certificates of origin.

With insufficient domestic refining capacity, Libya depends on Russia for about a third of its refined oil products.

Sources cite at least two recent cases of oil tankers carrying Russian oil for Alkagesta to Malta and Libya which fraudulently claimed that the oil came from Kazakhstan.

Alkagesta uses the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank, which is one of the last remaining European banks that still operates in Russia. In Malta, Alkagesta also hired Russian-speaking employees.

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Industry sources and reporters estimate that the Russian Mediterranean Dark Fleet is involved in a $10 billion industry in terms of trading volume per year with the trading routes stretching from Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Malta and Libya. Malta is an important and strategic location for the illegal Libyan oil trade and potentially serves as a major hub for the transfer of Russian oil.

Oil sales that were transacted in Hurd’s Bank have also occasionally been registered in Malta but the actual sales and transfers taking place in Hurd’s Bank are thought to be significantly under-reported.

Alkagesta says that it has a “high level of compliance” wherever it operates. They also threatened legal action against “false accusations”.