The regional Interior Ministry of NW Federal District said the Transport Police Department’s investigator opened on May 17, 2011 a criminal case over fraud against the company that signed with Rosneftbunker the RUB 10 m contract for construction of some facilities at the port. The firm, headquartered in St. Petersburg, with Moscow office (allegedly a bogus company), the Contractor, breached the contract: nothing was built, the money disappeared.
According to investigators the head of the company (a 37-year old woman born in Kharkiv, now a resident of Moscow region) had misappropriated and embezzled over RUB 2 million transferred to the firm’s account by Rosneftbunker for completion of the building contract first phase. The woman, who is on the run now, turned out to be a crime fugitive wanted by Moscow investigators for similar fraudulent operations, the police department said.
Gunvor’s JSC Rosneftbunker is the customer-developer of the liquid bulk terminal at the port of Ust-Luga. The project worth some RUB 26bn will increase the terminal’s annual capacity to 30 million tons. The project is being implemented through a $200 million loan from Vnesheconombank. This year the terminal is expected to export about 10.11 million tons of oil products.