Europe’s only sanctioned oil trader appeals decision citing ‘disinformation’

The only European to be approved to circulate Russian oil a petition to the European Union’s Supreme Court to cancel the decision, claiming that the bloc’s actions were affected by the misinformation published by a former commercial partner.

In the papers of the court filed in the General Court of the European Union in February, the lawyers of the Dutch trader, Nils Trost, wrote that its client companies had stopped being involved in Russian oil at least 15 months before the European Union’s decision and that the ship’s delay company, which was martyred in the sanctions list, was sold more than six years ago.

Trost’s lawyers have argued that the European Union’s decision in December seems to have been affected by the information published by his former business partner, Guerav Srivastava, who said that Trost had been involved in “in a toxic and bitter conflict.”

The Vinanchel Times times said last year that Srivastava claimed that he was falsely claimed that he was Secret work works with the CIA He promised to secure a license from the US Treasury to allow his companies to trade legally with Russia after they were widely invaded to Ukraine.

Trost ended the partnership in May 2023 after identifying the alleged deception and since then, Srivastava was accused of following up a campaign to destroy his reputation by exaggerating his links to Moscow.

“The misleading information that bad actors such as Mr. Srivastava seeks to distort the facts and influence the decisions, harms credibility and affects the effectiveness of the sanctions themselves,” the court explains.

Srivastava denies the demand to work with the CIA or publish misleading information. [Vladimir] Jeep Putin.

The sanctions decisions in the European Union are largely dependent on media records and reports available to the public, and until now, the bloc has punished nearly 2,400 individuals and entities regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the European Commission, more than 100 people have sought to cancel the decision, as most of these cases continue.

in Some casesThe court ruled that the evidence collected by the European Union was not enough to justify the list. But European Union Foreign Policy spokeswoman Anita Hiber said that the court’s rulings so far, the “vast majority” had supported the European Union.

The European Union’s Evidence File against TORST, which FT sees, has eight media articles, including two fT articles, a screenshot from TORST, the domain name accessories that can be accessed to the public, four general reports by non -profit groups, and two blog publications by companies intelligence companies and extracts from Swiss companies data.

Hipper said that the sanctions decisions were taken by the European Union Member States Council “on the basis of all the information that has been hidden” and that it reviewed the sanctions lists regularly.

The European Union’s penalty for TORST is cited by its ownership of Paramount Energy and Commodities SA, based in the Geneva -based DMCC, which it said continued to circulate Russian crude at prices exceeding $ 60 a barrel after announcing the ceiling of the European Union price in December 2022.

As mentioned by FT in March 2023Paramount DMCC did not continue to circulate Russian oil after serving the cover. Trost’s lawyers have argued that he was working independently of Paramount SA and that the United Arab Emirates is from the Swiss parent companies that were not required to comply with the rules of the European Union.

Instructions were directed to the lectures of the Board of Directors to stop all Russian deals in June 2023. Trost said he did so as soon as he decided that Srivastava was not the work of the CIA and that Paramount DMCC was not supporting the US government.

In addition, the European Union’s sanctions list said that TroSt was “affiliated” to the registered Hong-Kong company to connect ships called LIVNA, which accused it of trading Russian crude over the maximum. The European Union’s Evidence File against TOOST includes screenshots that show that it has registered a LIVNA website in 2014 but has no information about the company’s ownership.

Trost’s lawyers sent documents to the European Union Court and to FT showing that their customers sold Levna to one of its directors, Michael Chang, in 2018. Shipping records show that Levna continued the ships rented to Pramont after 2018, but Trost had no role in operations, ownership or administration. “

Zhang, whom FT has contacted, said that he was a coach of Valna since 2014 and obtained 100 percent of the works in 2018 when he wanted to expand his activities and Trost decided that he no longer wanted to ship. Under the terms of sale, Paramount agreed to continue using Livna to rented ships, and the full market value of shares was paid.

Zhang refused that Tartost had been a subordination of LIVNA, noting that he had no involvement in his operations after 2018. He added that the European Union statement that Levna was “trading crude oil over the roof of oil prices” was also incorrect as Levna was a rented ships and did not circulate.

Two months before the approval of the European Union, Srivastava representatives exchanged information with FT that claimed the continuous relations between TORST and Livna. At almost the same time, the law firm, Herington & Sutclife, which represents Srivastava in its commercial conflict with TORST, participated in the same information with European officials. Orrrick refused to comment.

In a statement of FT, Srivastava said that the authorities accurately achieved the goals of possible penalties and proven information. “There is no campaign to mislead against Niels Trost. I have now reached the same conclusion – I have now reached the same conclusion – as you circumvent the knowledge of sanctions systems to support Russia.”

“Trost has invented a fairy tale that he was fraudulent by a fake central intelligence spy to distract his activities that can be punished. Reconsted the same wrong phrases over and over again that do not make them real.”

consolation The United Kingdom was imposed on it first In February 2024 it was also approved by Switzerland. He is only nine citizens from the European Union approved by the bloc over the Ukrainian war.