Swiss company Gunvor, one of the world's largest oil traders, issued a statement on 22 December 2007 rejecting suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin owns a stake in it. As The Guardian reported, Gunvor chief executive Torbjorn Tornqvist called the claim that the company had benefited from close ties to the Kremlin "completely untrue".
In a letter published in the newspaper, Tornqvist stated: "None of the shares in this organisation belong to President Putin or any of his allies." According to him, Putin "is not a beneficiary" of the company's activities. This was the first time that Geneva-based Gunvor had publicly challenged media claims that Putin "effectively" owns a significant part of the firm.
Belkovsky's claims
The day before, in The Guardian, political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said that Putin controls "at least 75%" of Gunvor through an "opaque network of offshore companies". He told the newspaper: "Putin's name, of course, does not appear in any shareholder register. There is an opaque scheme of successive ownership of offshore companies and funds. The end point is in Zug [Switzerland] and Liechtenstein. Vladimir Putin must be the beneficial owner."
Belkovsky further claimed that the president controls 37% of shares in Surgutneftegas — an oil production company, Russia's third-largest oil producer — and 4.5% of Gazprom. He estimated Putin's personal fortune at $40 billion.
These claims, which appeared in several publications over the past month, according to the newspaper, could be a leak from the Kremlin amid a struggle between competing factions ahead of Putin's departure from the presidency in May.
Friendship with Timchenko
In the letter, Tornqvist confirmed for the first time that Putin is friendly with the company's co-founder Gennady Timchenko — a Russian businessman living in Switzerland and avoiding publicity. "[Timchenko] did know President Putin before he became famous," Tornqvist wrote. "However, suggestions that they served in the KGB together or did business together are completely untrue."
Gunvor declined to say how exactly Timchenko and Putin met. The company said that Timchenko denies ever having worked in the KGB or its foreign intelligence service — an accusation that Russian media have repeated for eight years. Their acquaintance reportedly came about through KGB circles.
Founded 10 years ago, Gunvor by 2007 had become the world's third-largest oil trader and handled 30% of Russia's seaborne oil exports. Competitors claim that it used political connections to secure lucrative deals with Russian state energy companies, including Rosneft, headed by deputy head of the presidential administration Igor Sechin.
Financial performance and Kremlin factions
In his letter, Tornqvist stated that Gunvor's profit is exaggerated. According to him, it amounts to "hundreds of millions" of dollars, not billions as previously assumed. The company declined to give an exact profit figure for 2007 but confirmed that turnover was $43 billion. "This is normal for a business of our scale working in our sector... It would simply be wrong to claim that we benefit from privileges granted through trade contracts in Russia and leading to multi-billion profits," Tornqvist wrote.
Discussion of Putin's wealth was previously taboo. However, claims about his fortune leaked amid a fierce struggle within the Kremlin between the group led by Sechin and the "liberal" clan that includes Dmitry Medvedev. Sechin's group consists of siloviki — Kremlin officials with a military or security services background. According to the newspaper, it includes FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev, his deputy Alexander Bortnikov and Putin's aide Viktor Ivanov. The "liberal" camp is said to include Roman Abramovich, Viktor Cherkesov and Alisher Usmanov.
As sources noted, the struggle has little to do with ideology and is a war between business competitors. Putin's decision to support Medvedev, who has no ties to the security services, as president dealt a blow to Sechin's hardline clan, they added. On the same day, the Vedomosti newspaper suggested that Putin might become chairman of Gazprom, effectively swapping jobs with Medvedev.
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