They usually resort to those intermediaries when entering new markets that are unfamiliar to them, in order to benefit from their status inside this market, which they have done in several Asian countries before building direct relationships with the clients. Image: Cables of the electric generators in the Lebanese capital BeirutCredit: ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images, except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa. Little is known inside the island about the Cuban governments companies abroad, but Havana economist Omar Everleny wrote in the early 2000s that there were more than 100 entities with the participation of Cuban capital, founded as mixed [state-private] companies or as branches of companies based on the island operating abroad in areas such as construction, agriculture, food, medicine, mining, finance and science., Everleny, recently fired from the University of Havanas Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy, noted the paradox that a country that lacks the capital for its own development has invested in other countries. The motive, he speculated, is the U.S. embargo that forced the establishment of a network of companies around the world to warehouse and market products from the sea, among them lobsters and shrimp., Today the export of products from the fishing industry is carried out through those companies, he said, adding that Cuban officials also created an international network of companies to warehouse and sell the famous Cuban cigars.. A lawyer for Panamericana, Katiuska Peado Moreno, and a former commercial attach at the Cuban embassy in London, Alejandro Gutirrez Madrigal, are listed as the beneficiaries of shares in Miramar Investment Corporation Ltd. worth $50,000. At times, however, the shield of anonymity over Cuban companies is not very effective. In recent years, the company has become increasingly active in LPG and LNG. It showed that fuel was of acceptable quality, when another test showed it was not. 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. The justification of the Sonatrach executives for adopting this type of contract (Fronting), which is renewed every three years, was the position of the intermediary in the Lebanese market, in addition to his taking all the risks related to the deals. The difference: The name of the BVI firm has no Spanish accents, the Cuban companys name does. Venezuelas oil ministry, its information ministry - which handles media for the government - and PDVSA did not respond to questions. MP and former Tory energy minister John Hayes has been paid 150,000 by oil firm BB Energy over three years. El Nuevo Herald identified at least 25 companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Panama and the Bahamas and linked to Cuba. Sonatrach signed the contract while Ali ibn-Buzeid was the manager of the London branch, and Muhammad Shawki Rahhal was the marketing manager, who had been accused in the first Sonatrach lawsuit. Sir John's earnings put him among the most well paid MPs. I think we have more confidence in what didnt happen than what did.. 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. All of which can give our clients a competitive edge. MP and former Tory energy minister John Hayes has been paid 150,000 by oil firm BB Energy over three years. 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. 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 ZR Group and Mr. Rahmeh were unlawfully indicted on a number of charges, of which all but one have been dropped. 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. By Irina Slav - Sep 20, 2021, 9:30 AM CDT. With approximately 24 million metric tonnes of physical crude oil, petroleum products and gas traded annually, BBE is one of the most active gas-oil, gasoline, fuel oil and bitumen traders. Billions of dollars have been siphoned off annually into political largesse and party war chests. 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. BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Lebanon: A web of corruption Lebanon: A web of corruption As Lebanon endures worsening blackouts and fuel shortages, BBC Arabic investigates the. BB Energy is one of the world's leading independent energy trading companies. You can unsubscribe at any time*. ZR Energy DMCC was not aware of any deficiency and relied on the representations of independent and internationally recognised third-party testers who certified that it was on specification when ZR Energy DMCC handled the cargo, a representative of ZR Energy DMCC said. 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. When MPs have lucrative side-jobs for private firms it raises questions over whose interests they are serving. Since sanctions were imposed, Reliance has made such purchases with the full knowledge and approval of the U.S. Department of State (USDOS), Reliance said. This evolutionary approach not only applies to our services, but also our people. One Bloomberg report showed BB Energy had $10 billion in revenues in 2012. Such deals, however, may be authorized by the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control or the Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security. Still, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces sanctions, has given no indications it would take that route. I understand Mr. Dupont-Willemin is a Swiss lawyer and I believe it is for the documents to be more transparent and trustworthy. The biggest donor is Aquind, . Shuja Malik of BBC Urdu visited a village where women have been hired to work in the milk centre. All of Britain's Big Six energy suppliers, EDF Energy , Innogy's Npower, E.ON, Scottish Power, SSE and Centrica's British Gas, have submitted bids in a tender run by regulator Ofgem to . Independent MP Paula Yacoubian told LOGI that she believed Lebanese and Algerian mafias were involved in a corruption scheme tied to the fuel imports. Riad Bassatne and his son Wael remained owners of the remaining shares. 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. Yes! Subscribe to our newsletters and offers. BB Naft did business with Cuba between 1992 and 2001, trading oil for sugar for $300 million, with credit facilities at low interest rate, Coronado wrote. 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 publication was sponsored by Global Warming Policy Forum, a think tank founded by climate change denier Nigel Lawson. A Reuters news agency report shows that the mother company, BB Energy, was still sending petroleum to Syria in 2011. Translation by Joelle El Khoury. 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. And most trade union leaders went down the same path. Finally, Sonatrach rarely markets its fuel through intermediaries, and its fuel is sold through intermediaries well-known in the market. 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. Yacoubian said that high-level responsibility for the secret contract with Sonatrach and years of faulty fuel imports should be explored. Edif. However, he expressed regret that the court system had not dug deeper. Procs du fuel dfectueux : 22 personnes sur le banc des accuss. All individuals involved in this initiative - including co-founders, advisory board members, and experts - are serving in their personal capacity. 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. The PDVSA source said the company was proposing the new arrangements known as factoring to allow PDVSA clients to receive oil without making direct payments to the Venezuelan state oil company in the wake of Januarys sanctions. Its stated aims are to challenge what it describes as the extremely damaging and harmful policies designed to mitigate climate change. 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. The document also said that the payment by Reliance to Rosneft would also allow PDVSA to meet unspecified contractual obligations to Rosneft. 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. 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. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1. But Cuba kept its links with some of the firms until very recently. The judge is the one who has the power to add to or drop the charges.. The proposed payment mechanism is the latest sign of the growing proximity of Venezuelas cash-strapped government to Russia as the United States tightens a financial noose around Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who it describes as a dictator. 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.. Starmer even chose last week to announce that Labour was no longer in favour of abolishing the House of Lords. Teddy Rahmeh and his company, ZR Group SAL Holding, are not involved in importing fuel oil to Lebanon, the representative of ZR Group Holding SAL said, denouncing the charges as a political conspiracy. Public debt could rise to 289% of GDP by the end of the century if climate change is left unchecked, it said. 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! Russia has publicly said the U.S. sanctions are illegal and it would work with Venezuela to weather them. According to the Dubai commercial register, ZR Energy DMCC is fully owned by Zaouk. Please check individual images for licensing details. Baha Bassatne remained the sole Sonatrach broker until Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour was appointed general manager of the company and imposed another intermediary. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg. 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. Corruption policy, and our KYC and recruitment procedures to support our stance that we will not One Bloomberg report showed BB Energy. Ltd. and Singapore-registered PowerCo International Pte. Reliance said in its statement its purchases of Venezuelan oil from Rosneft do not lead to any payments to PDVSA. 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. This was on top of his standard MP salary of nearly 82,000. By April 28, Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun said 21 people had been arrested in the case, mostly employees of the Oil Installations. The case dates back to March 2020, when EDL reported to the judiciary that it had received a shipment of poor-quality fuel, even though the results of tests conducted at the port of exit and upon the fuels arrival at the Beirut port showed the opposite. One lawyer for BB Naft, Noureddine Kabalan, asked Mossack Fonseca in April of 2008 to create a power of attorney so that the empowered person can be authorized to sign on behalf of the company in Syria and Iraq for specific transactions.. 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. It held all the shares of Euro Foods Ltd., which was registered in the Bahamas and in turn represented ALIMPORT. The document showed that PDVSA and Reliance would pay Rosneft a marketing fee equivalent to around 3 percent of the sale price, split between them. 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. Panamericanas former director, Jos L. Fernndez de Cosso Domnguez, is listed in the leaked documents as a director of Miramar Investment Corporation Ltd, Euro Foods Ltd, Racuza S.A, Caribbean Sugar Trader, Mercaria Trading S.A. and Sabradell S.A. Fernndez more recently served as Cubas ambassador to Japan and economic attach at the embassy in Paris. Since the Tories takeover of parliament in 2010, nine of the partys former treasurerswho donated huge amountswere given a position as a Lord. Rosneft would also make a profit by receiving an intermediation fee, the source and an internal PDVSA document said. In particular, the expensive refurbishment of the Downing Street flat. In his self-pitying resignation letter he blamed the cruel world of politics. 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. The similar logo and name are explained through an agreement between the two firms that gave ZR Energy DMCC the right to use the brand and credit facility of ZR Group Holding SAL. 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. Instead, investigations have revealed that at least two companies owned by Lebanese businessmen, BB Energy and ZR Energy, were bringing in the fuel. This entire case rests on false assumptions backed up by entirely fabricated charges. 11:07 AM | 31 Jan, 2023 . Twice he was found in breach of the rules on declarations of benefits. Fuel poverty and energy efficiency are inevitably linked, the less efficient a property is the costlier it is to heat. One of the markets may have been Ecuador. 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. The company, which has offices in Havana and other countries, was created to handle, among other things, its relationship with oil-exporting Latin American countries and with Cuba, Mossack Fonseca lawyer Rigoberto Coronado wrote in an email. With challenges consistently facing the energy industry, we are constantly evolving, using advanced systems, procedures and processes to provide the best answers for our clients. Last month the independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner found Paterson had breached the tame paid advocacy rules. Paterson had, on 16 occasions, used his House of Commons office for meetings relating to his private business interests. Testimonies collected by Mount Lebanon Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour as part of the preliminary investigation pointed to suspected shady deals to forge lab tests for the fuels quality specifications, and to the involvement of employees at the labs as well as senior officials at the Energy Ministry, including the director-general of oil installations, Sarkis Hleiss. 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 . Longtime Labiofam director Jos Antonio Fraga Castro, a nephew of Fidel and Ral Castro, retired in 2014 amid the so-called revolutionary perfumes scandal, sparked when the company sought to sell perfumes inspired by Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto Che Guevara and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez. Erni was most recently. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a lawyer with knowledge of the proceedings said that there is no [indictment] at this point. It is up to the criminal court to decide on the merits [of the case], and to determine whether ZR Group Holding SAL and Rahmeh are involved in the case. Hayes declared his role at the oil. Its worth mentioning that influential Lebanese politicians, from both ends, support these companies and compete to impose them as fuel importers. 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 internal PDVSA document said the sales would allow the partial completion of the financial scheme of advanced payments between PDVSA and Rosneft. There seems to be a tendency to prosecute managers and employees of the Lebanese Al-Zahrani Electricity Company as accomplices and facilitators of these operations; and while ZR Energys owners are being interrogated, the investigations will expand to reach the date of signing the contract with the Algerian company in 2005. This is an actual Pandoras box that goes far beyond the chapter currently in the hands of the judiciary, he said. At parliament we will try to make sure that high level responsibility is also explored - including all the ministers who stayed silent over the years., Fuel import scandal shows why transparency matters. The Cuban government used the Panama law firm involved in the Panama Papers to create a string of companies in offshore financial havens that allowed it to sidestep the U.S. embargo in its commercial operations. 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. 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. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Mansour had initially leveled the same accusations against the Lebanese company ZR Group Holding SAL and issued an arrest warrant for its owner, Teddy Rahmeh, which was withdrawn after bail was posted. Wars, natural disasters and economic downturns have historically exposed children to the danger of trafficking and illegal adoption. Under the new approach described to Reuters, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has at least twice asked its clients to make payments to Rosneft for Venezuelan oil, according to the documents. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3.1. For some 15 years, the public were informed that Lebanon was purchasing fuel from the Algerian state company Sonatrach. The Panama Papers also show that Labiofam S.A., the marketing branch of Grupo Empresarial Labiofam, a Cuban government company that produces vaccines, medicines and other products for the control of carriers of diseases, owns shares in BioAsia Ltd. That company was founded with an investment of 10 million euros from Vietnam, southern Asia and the United Kingdom and lists Mossack Fonseca as its registered agent. the Home Energy and Conservation Act (HECA) report in Appendix 1. This was set to be voted on in parliament. According to documents, civil servants were trying to cover for the fact that Randox did not have the equipment it needed. Steve Goodrich, research manager at Transparency International, said the number of MPs who accepted visits to Azerbaijan - a petrostate with a big corruption and human rights problem - was. Ltd., in February of this year to import 2,880,000 barrels of diesel fuel. This case points to the rampant corruption in the sector. Behind the scandalous lies and appalling plunder by the political elite and their business backers lies their drive to profit from pandemic suffering. This article was originally published in French. Johnson even survived revelations that he would rather let the bodies pile high than push forward plans for a third lockdown. All rights reserved. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has asked at least two of its clients to make payments for Venezuelan oil via Russian state energy giant Rosneft, as it comes under pressure from U.S. sanctions, according to a PDVSA source and documents reviewed by Reuters. 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. Miramar Playa. 2022 LOrient-Le Jour. They include Petrobras, Vitol, and Glencore Limited. Successive . 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. BBE Renewables was established to diversify from Oil & Gas by investing and financing renewable projects. I feel they are trying to bury this issue in the courts by stopping at mid-level employees, Yacoubian said. Hes right, but the cruelty is the treatment of ordinary people and the contempt politicians have for the rest of us. Which groups shape the stories we see in the press; which voices are silenced, and why? 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. 310. Boris Johnson initially backed Paterson. Rahmeh, like the other defendants, presented preemptory defenses during the pretrial phase, which the judiciary accepted, except related to the charge of bribery, which it upheld. That the committee review and comment on proposed and ongoing work to reduce fuel poverty. 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. 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. Instead of seeking to polish and rescue parliaments reputation, Labour and the unions should be campaigning for a complete clean out of corrupted MPs. 2022 LOrient-Le Jour All rights reserved. Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region's best source of business information. The Lebanese National News Agency announced that the attorney-general of Mount Lebanon, Ghada Aoun, issued arrest warrants against 17 people working in the fuel sector because of import irregularities. The Swiss lawyer did not respond to El Nuevo Herald requests for comments on this story. Following a scandal over the delivery of tainted fuel to the state-owned lectricit du Liban, 22 defendants will appear before the criminal court that upheld the charges, which include accepting bribes and forgery. The branch he was managing, which was a subject for the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance, was dissolved. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 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. The leaked documents also show that Guillermo Faustino Rodrguez Lpez-Calleja, brother of Gen. Luis Alberto Rodrguez Lpez-Calleja, was appointed in 1999 as a director of Pescatlan S.A., a company incorporated by Mossack Fonseca in the British Virgin Islands in 1991 with an initial capital of $50,000. Ltd., BB Energy (Gulf) DMCC and BB Holding S.A.L. Petroecuador contracted BB Energy (Asia) Pte. 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. The Bassatne family incorporated BB Naft Trading S.A. in Panama, with Jrgen Mossack as a director. Last month, he also joined calls from Tory MPs to allow shale fracking to resume in the UK. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of exports from the OPEC nation and the lions share of government revenues. The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not answer a comment request for this story. Offer sent. Stakeholders in renewable energy value chains include not only manufacturers, suppliers and users but also government agencies, financial institutions and private technology companies, as well as informal local networks. 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. The latter said in a televised address that he discouraged Hleiss, one of his childhood friends, from going to the court. 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 CEEC was made up of local residents who are . The legal proceeding is not expected to be decided before next year. As Johnson announced Covid safety restrictions in March 2020, the government handed Randox a 133 million contract to manufacture Covid tests. We hope to welcome you among our subscribers. Hayes declined to comment. 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. Link to this Report. 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. They have not been called to account for the 37 billion spent on a failing test and trace system. The PDVSA source said that Rosneft credited PDVSA the amount, minus an undisclosed fee, and then started talks with BB Energy to recover the sum it advanced PDVSA. Corruption in the Energy Sector Corruption has been defined by Robert Klitgaard3 as "the abuse of office for personal gain". Entity: B.B. The Committee on Standards suggested Paterson should just be suspended from the Commons for 30 days. 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. For over five decades we have been applying our depth of specialist experience to oil refining, logistics, storage and financing across the world. While former energy ministers who signed and renewed the contract have been questioned, they are not currently at the center of criminal investigations. Those sanctioned include the oil trading firms Swissoil Trading and Malta-based Elemento Ltd., as well as Swissoil owner Philipp Paul Vartan Apikian, Spanish-Venezuelan citizen Francisco Javier D'Agostino Casado, and core facilitator and Italian citizen Alessandro Bazzoni. The deal between the Lebanese and Algerian governments was to provide the Lebanese market mainly with heavy fuel oil to meet the needs of power plants, a fuel that Algeria does not produce in sufficient quantities, as the Algerian oil Saharan Blend is known for being a light crude type. Ukraine's track record of massive corruption in energy is a sadly familiar story. 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. 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.