The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Russian Rosneft Trading S.A. for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy, while also designated the chairman of the board of directors and president of Rosneft Trading S.A., Didier Casimiro, for purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Rosneft Trading S.A.
Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin reported that
Rosneft Trading S.A. and its president brokered the sale and transport of Venezuelan crude oil … The United States is determined to prevent the looting of Venezuela’s oil assets by the corrupt Maduro regime.
All property and assets of both Rosneft Trading and Casimiro that are either in the United States or in the control of U.S. persons (including American banks, financial institutions and other entities) are now blocked. Companies that have business dealings with Rosneft Trading will have a limited period time to wind down their connections under a temporary OFAC general license.
Currently, the company handles about the 70% of Venezuela’s crude oil exports, and Treasury disclosed several of the specific transactions that formed the basis for the sanctions designation:
- In January 2020, Rosneft Trading S.A. facilitated, on behalf of PdVSA, a shipment of two million barrels of Merey-16 crude oil from Venezuela to West Africa.
- In the fall of 2019, PdVSA planned oil shipments with Rosneft Trading S.A. involving 55 million barrels of crude oil liftings from September to December 2019.
- In September 2019, PdVSA supplied a shipment of one million barrels of Merey-16 to Rosneft Trading S.A., which was loaded on a vessel in Venezuela and destined for Asia.
- In August 2019, Rosneft Trading S.A. negotiated a shipment of two million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil with PdVSA and was able to find a vessel willing to transport the cargo despite difficulties that came with doing business in Venezuela.
As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of Rosneft Trading S.A. and Didier Casimiro that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by the designated individual and entity, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.
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