All three terminals engaged in transshipment of oil products in the port of Ventspils – JSC “Ventbunkers”, SIA “Ventall termināls” and SIA “Ventspils nafta termināls” – deny that they would have mixed Russian diesel fuel with a product of another origin, the representatives of the companies point out.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that European energy companies were looking for a way around maintaining Russia’s crude oil flow, while publicly renouncing cooperation with Russia. The “Latvian mixture” has appeared on the oil market – diesel fuel, which looks like a solution to supply a Russian product mixed with a product of another origin. Ventspils was mentioned in the Bloomberg publication as a place where mixing takes place.
Representatives of Ventbunkers note that due to the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus by the European Union (EU) and the US Office for the Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC), oil storage and transshipment services are not currently provided at the Ventbunkers terminal.
“Consequently, we have no and cannot have any connection with the blending of Russian diesel,” Ventbunkers said.
Representatives of “Ventall Terminal” also stated that “Ventall Terminal” is not a terminal where the activities described in the media are or were performed. In addition, the company emphasizes that there has been no diesel fuel in the terminal since 2015.
The company also stated that Ventall Terminal will continue to comply with all Latvian regulations, as well as local and international sanctions. Representatives of the company also condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, calling on the Latvian government to do everything possible to stop this Russian aggression.
Ventspils nafta termināls also points out that there is no oil storage terminal mentioned in the Bloomberg article.
The company’s representatives confirmed that Ventspils nafta termināls fully complies with the applicable (valid) sanctions regulations. If the introduction of new sanction packages will affect the company’s operations, it will take immediate action to ensure that the business complies with the requirements, the company said.
At a press conference on Monday, April 11, after a meeting of intergovernmental parties, Economy Minister Janis Vitenbergs (NA) said that information published by Bloomberg about blending Russian diesel with non-Russian diesel in Ventspils was alarming and the Ministry of Economics would check.
Representatives of the Freeport of Ventspils point out that in the Freeport of Ventspils three terminals are engaged in transshipment of oil products – “Ventspils nafta termināls”, “Ventbunkers” and “Ventall termināls”.
Representatives of the Freeport admitted that processing operations are carried out in terminals with stored oil products, but what exactly operations are performed with imported oil products could not be commented, as the port authority has neither the right to control cargo terminals nor comment on their commercial operations.
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