“The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” – Marc Rich Part 1

https://www.americanlibertyemail.com/articles/the-slimy-trail-of-marc-rich-how-one-of-the-clintons-best-friends-gave-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

Below are excerpts

In the years following Bill Clinton’s scandal-tainted presidency, one name keeps popping up time and time again in relation to perhaps the last great brouhaha of that era; that name is Marc Rich.

When news of the dealings was made public, Rich became public enemy number one, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudolph Giuliani made Rich’s prosecution his highest priority. The case dragged on two decades. Rich fled the United States to Switzerland, where he remained until his death in 2013, even after Clinton’s pardon, never to return to the country of his youth and education.

Why would Bill Clinton pardon someone so infamous and obviously disreputable? Certainly, Rich had the opposite of popular support in the U.S.; he was a billionaire who boasted of flouting the law and using tax loopholes to his advantage while the country suffered through recession during the 1980s.

The answer may be found in Rich’s wife’s donation of $450,000 to the Clinton Library and $1 million to Clinton-supported Democratic causes in the period prior to Rich’s pardon. Even to this day, Denise Rich remains a close personal friend of the Clintons and a repeated donor to Hillary Clinton’s senatorial and presidential campaigns, despite renouncing her American citizenship for tax purposes.

Denise’s good friend Beth Dozoretz, a veteran Democratic Party contributor, apparently was so close to Bill Clinton that he telephoned her 10 days before the pardon took place to give her advance notice of the good news to pass on to her pal. After Bill left office, Dozoretz was hired for a senior State Department post under Hillary after serving as the finance co-chair of her 2008 presidential campaign. In recent years, she’s supported Hillary’s “Ready For Hillary” Super PAC and donated up to $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation with her husband Ron.

Marc Rich’s former spouse isn’t the only association the Clintons retain with the now-deceased financier. The extended family of convicted money launderer and oil trader Gilbert Chagoury is also well-known to the Clintons. Chagoury sold Nigerian oil with Rich but was prosecuted in connection with embezzlement during the regime of his associate, Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Chagoury donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Senate presidential run and pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Foundation.

His money laundering conviction was later overturned, and it’s left to observers to ponder if tight connections to the Clintons had anything to do with it. Chaghoury’s nephew Michel in Los Angeles served on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign staff and was a bundler for big-money donors. Other Chaghoury relatives donated heavily to Clinton’s multiple federal campaigns.

“The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” – Marc Rich Part 2

https://www.americanlibertyemail.com/articles/the-slimy-trail-of-marc-rich-how-one-of-the-clintons-best-friends-gave-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

Below are excerpts

Bill Clinton in return has championed Gilbert Chagoury, serving as a keynote speaker when the trader received a “Pride of Heritage” award within the Lebanese community. The Clinton Global Initiative gave Chagoury’s company a sustainable development award in 2009. Chagoury was a guest at Bill Clinton’s 60th birthday party.

Former Rich employee and Russian investor Sergei Kurzin made a fortune in commodities in the former Soviet Union. One of his larger deals was signed off on by Hillary Clinton’s State Department, whereby Russia purchased 20 percent of the United States’ uranium production capacity in 2010. During the time the deal was in negotiation, Bill Clinton was coincidentally given a fee of $500,000 to speak in Moscow by a Russian investment bank promoting the enterprise. At the same time, Kurzin donated $1 million to Bill’s favorite charity, the Clinton Foundation.

Former Rich commodity trading partners Simon and David Reuben made a fortune with their firm, Trans World Metals. Since then, they have been highly enthusiastic supporters of both Clintons, donating tens of thousands to the Clinton Foundation and co-sponsoring a star-studded gala for the charity in London. Other Rich partners and employees such as Clyde Meltzer (who was indicted in 1983 along with Rich) and Gershon Kekst, who handled Rich’s P.R., have been large donors to Hillary’s multiple campaigns. Rich’s former attorneys Jack Quinn, Robert Fink and Peter Kadzik have also donated to Hillary’s various bids for office.

Lastly, there are numerous undisclosed donors to the Clinton Foundation, despite its pledges of transparency in funding, which have links to the commodities and mining industries in Canada and other foreign nations.

In fact, many people suspect the bulk of the funding of the Clinton Foundation, which now boasts an endowment of more than $2 billion, is tied to foreign sources. If the Clinton’s political history was merely in the past, this might not be of such concern. But with Hillary in full-bore 2016 campaign mode and noted donors such as convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, French hedge-fund manager Arpad Busson, Canadian mining billionaire Frank Giustra (who alone has given the Clintons more than $25 million), U.K. retail magnate Richard Caring, financier George Soros, and hedge fund managers S. Donald Sussman and David E. Shaw supporting her efforts, it’s hard to see where the Clintons’ public interests stop and their private interests begin.

During the administrations of husband Bill, the Lincoln bedroom had a notorious revolving door for big donors. Under Hillary, who knows what might be promised to special interests and global third parties. Clearly, Marc Rich’s associates and their ilk have a favorite candidate in mind for 2016.

“Glencore is more of a crime syndicate than a business”

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/glencore-is-more-of-a-crime-syndicate-than-a-business-b05f6386-4c96-418a-94a6-d1d6bfe5762d

May 31, 2022

Glencore, the largest natural resources company in the world, is more of a crime syndicate than a business.

After becoming a fugitive for 18 years and being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, President Bill Clinton pardoned [Marc Rich]

Today, Marc Rich's successor companies, Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura, control the price of just about every commodity.

They also dominate a considerable share of South African and global natural resources, led by South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg who worked for Rich in the 1980s.

Another one of Rich's students is Alan Duncan, a British minister between 2010 and 2019. During his employment at Rich's company, Duncan violated sanctions in the 1980s by supplying oil to South Africa. He is alleged to have moved oil from Brunei to Durban and earned about £100K a year in the process.

John Deuss is another one of Marc Rich's proteges. Deuss, a Dutchman described as "sleazy", supplied 57% of South Africa's oil imports by 1981, and made $500 million.

Deuss used false flags, forged cargo papers and mid-sea cargo transshipments to move oil for the Apartheid regime.

In 1991, he signed a new contract to supply 45 000 barrels per day, an increase of 15 000 from the previous year.

These examples are to demonstrate the calibre of individuals that led Marc Rich + Co./Glencore.

Fast forward to 2021, former Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg refused to appear before the State Capture Commission after he was implicated as being the "mastermind" behind the "collapse" of Eskom, after allegedly bribing the current president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa with a chairmanship at one of his mining companies in 2012.

Glencore and Ramaphosa first did business together in 2005 when Glasenberg picked Ramaphosa’s company, Shanduka as its BEE partner on a coal export project before joining forces again in 2012 to supply coal via Glencore subsidiary, Optimum.

The allegations against Glencore were as follows: Cyril Ramaphosa was given a 9.64% stake in Glencore and become Chairman after the company had bought Optimum Coal Holdings (Eskom’s coal supplier in 2011).

According to former Eskom GCEO Brian Molefe, Glasenberg and Glencore appointed Ramaphosa to Optimum, to exert "political influence and the extent to which Glencore would be able to exert pressure on Eskom directors and management."

In 2014, Glencore subsidiary Optimum, chaired by Ramaphosa, renegotiated a 40-year coal contract with Eskom, demanding an increase from R150 to R530 a ton and a waiver of the R2 billion penalties accrued from failing to meet the existing supply agreement.

When Eskom tried to enforce the penalties, they were threatened with Ramaphosa's name, according to former Eskom Interim CEO Matshela Koko, while the Glencore subsidiary claimed it only owed R16 million in penalties.

To further show the decades-old culture of skullduggery at Glencore; Clinton Ephron, who was Optimum CEO at the time Ramaphosa was appointed to chair the company's board, went to the State Capture Commission and lied under oath saying Ramaphosa was never the Chairman of Optimum.

In February 2022, Glencore set aside $1.5 billion to be used to pay fines for bribing government officials and market manipulation in Brazil, Britain, the DRC, Nigeria, the US, and Venezuela.

Yet, interestingly, the South African government, under Ramaphosa, has raised no complaints against Glencore.

>>16386828

“Amabhungane details alleged cover-up in Ramaphosa farm theft” – Namibia Connection

https://youtu.be/tKyTS3WykNw

“The criminal complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa laid by former spy boss Arthur Fraser on Wednesday has exponentially raised the stakes over exactly what transpired during and after a break-in on his farm in February 2020. Information obtained by investigative collective amaBhungane points to a major cover-up of the theft of a reported 4-million dollars in cash from the president's Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo. To share what they have uncovered let's talk to AmaBhungane Co-Managing Partner Sam Sole.”

“Ramaphosa’s stolen millions: the Namibian connection”

https://amabhungane.org/stories/220604-ramaphosas-stolen-millions-the-namibian-connection/

4 June 2022

In 2020 Namibian authorities identified suspects following a break-in at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, but sources allege SA intelligence back-channels were used to get the Namibians to let the matter go. Now Arthur Fraser’s criminal complaint puts the President on the spot: what did he do, what did he know and why the cover-up?

Information obtained by amaBhungane points to a major cover-up of the 2020 theft of some US$4-million in cash from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.

Now the criminal complaint against Ramaphosa laid by former spy boss Arthur Fraser on Wednesday has massively raised the stakes over what exactly happened in the days following the break-in on 9 February 2020.

The key questions are: what did Ramaphosa do, what did he know, and why was it hushed up?

>>16473081

“Goldman Vends Metal Warehouse Unit to Reuben Brothers - Analyst Blog” – “hoarding of aluminum and artificial rise in the metal price” [Glencore]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-vends-metal-warehouse-unit-145002504.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFM8YQtw7Upp6XVQci4niHAwsTiAk8yue6-vmtSI82IbvRCkspnlRub5rqYWww2FLNvV7LHX8iaeR2UIO2MYssEswylS4M5k96eeP_A3fDay7hHxMmCN2SThVJxJzrwZdOMHVlDTSA2ijdZxq7zIGymz42IgWhP796-2ucrtwNb1

December 23, 2014

Amid heightened regulatory and political scrutiny on banks' ownership of the physical commodity business, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) completed the sale of its metals warehouse unit – Metro International Trade Services LLC, which was initiated in May. The metal warehousing biz has been vended to a subsidiary of Switzerland-based investment firm – Reuben Brothers.

The terms of the deal were undisclosed under which Reuben Brothers will take over around 30 Detroit warehouses of Metro.

What Compels the Exit?

Though Metro has been contributing to Goldman’s revenues, the company does not consider it as a strategic fit anymore. Notably, potential buyers approached the company.

Goldman bought Detroit-based Metro back in 2010 for around $540 million. Metro is engaged in running warehouses for storage of metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Goldman owned Metro in compliance with the “merchant banking” clause of the bank holding company act that permits banks to own commercial businesses for a holding period of 10 years. Hence, Goldman could hold this investment till 2020. However, the Federal Reserve proposes to reduce such investment holding period for banks.

As banks’ commodity business drew increasing regulatory scrutiny and public criticisms, in 2013 Goldman, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Switzerland-based Glencore Xstrata plc and LME were accused in a lawsuit related to the hoarding of aluminum and artificial rise in the metal price.

Metro's Detroit warehouse had the second-longest delivery time for aluminum of a whooping 683 days. Owing to excess waiting time, banks gain from increased lease payments, creating shortage of supply in the market that ultimately leads to artificial inflation in aluminum prices. As a result, many industries that are dependent on the metal, like the beverage industry and the automobile industry were affected.

Last month, as per the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report, ever since Goldman acquired Detroit-area metal warehouses run by Metro Trade Services International in 2010, the warehouse has amassed 85% of the U.S. aluminum storage market. Further, warehouse management paid incentives to metal owners to participate in ‘merry-go-round’ deals that transferred metal from one building to another but did not ship it out of the warehouse, thus creating an artificial supply shortage and leading to rising prices.

In Conclusion

Goldman is not the only bank to exit this commodity business, Barclays PLC (BCS), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are some other banks that are streamlining the metal business owing to increased regulatory scrutiny and mass criticism.

While banks are striving for alternative sources of revenue in a still low interest rate environment, these are forced to reduce exposure to a lucrative segment like the commodity business.

>>16493808

“Glencore: Profiteering from hunger and chaos” – 9 May 2011 (Part 1 of 2)

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/5/9/glencore-profiteering-from-hunger-and-chaos

9 May 2011

The world’s largest commodities trader is issuing a stock sale, and critics say the firm causes spikes in food prices.

The rapid rise in prices for food, fuel and commodities has been disastrous for the world’s poor, including Indonesian market vendor Lia Romi. But it’s a bonanza for multinational trading firms such as Glencore.

Controlling prices

Valued at about $60billion, Glencore controls 50 per cent of the global copper market, 60 per cent of zinc, 38 per cent in alumina, 28 per cent of thermal coal, 45 per cent of lead and almost 10 per cent of the world’s wheat – according to information the firm disclosed prior to its share sale. It also controls about one quarter of the world market in barley, sunflower and rape seed.

“They are possibly one of very few mining companies that are price makers, rather than price takers,” said Chris Hinde, editorial director of Mining Journal magazine. “They are the stockbrokers of the commodities business [operating] in a fairly secretive world. They are effectively setting the price for some very important commodities,” he told Al Jazeera.

Based in Baar, Switzerland, where regulation is minimal, the company’s sprawling interests span Bolivian tin mines, Angolan oil, zinc producers in Kazakhstan, Zambian copper mines and Russian wheat operations.

“Glencore’s vertical integration really is unprecedented,” said Devlin Kuyek, a researcher with GRAIN, a non-profit international organisation working on food security.

“Glencore owns almost 300,000 hectares of farm land and it is one of the largest farm operators in the world. They are engaging in speculation on the grain trade and have immense market power,” he told Al Jazeera.

Global food prices have climbed recently, returning close to their 2008 peak, when bread riots swept parts of the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.

“A disturbing amount of price increases, I fear, is being driven by speculative activity,” Marcus Miller, a professor of international economics at the University of Warwick, told Al Jazeera. “Bets [on future price rises or declines] can become self-fulfilling if you are big enough to affect the market.”

In March 2011, the World Bank’s global food index was 36 per cent above levels from a year earlier, although prices for commodities have dropped in the past few weeks.

In 2010, investment bank Goldman Sachs warned of “violent price spikes” in commodities markets, and that prediction has more or less come true. >>16477359

“Glencore: Profiteering from hunger and chaos” – 9 May 2011 (Part 2 of 2)

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/5/9/glencore-profiteering-from-hunger-and-chaos

9 May 2011

Knowledge and power

To make money betting on food, metals and energy, Glencore – like other trading houses and hedge funds – relies on one crucial commodity: Information.

“They have offices all over the world and unique access to information about production and distribution,” said food security researcher Kuyek. “When the people who have that information are also the ones speculating, there is grave cause for concern; they can purchase forward contracts when they know prices are going up.”

In August 2010, for example, Russia issued a ban on grain exports, after droughts ravaged crops. On August 3, the head of Glencore’s Russian grain unit encouraged the government to halt exports. The government followed his advice on August 5, causing prices for cereals to rise 15 per cent in two days.

“Days before the export ban went into place, Glencore made huge bets,” said Kuyek. “They had some kind of information there; companies with information are in the best place to capture profits from volatility.” Glencore, for its part, said it also lost money as a result of the ban, because it had to fulfill delivery obligations to clients outside Russia at the new, higher price.

In addition to manipulating food prices – potentially with insider information – the trading giant appears to have broken laws on several continents.

Prosecutors in Belgium charged Glencore employees with criminal conspiracy and corruption, alleging they illicitly sought confidential information on European export subsidies from a public official. The case will be heard in Brussels on May 12.

Shady deals

During Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq, and the UN sanctions which accompanied its final years, Glencore made handsome profits marketing embargoed oil. In February 2001, Glencore bought 1million barrels of Iraqi crude oil destined for the US and diverted the black gold to Croatia, where it was sold for a premium of $3million, according to a UN Security Council report.

When the news broke, the Sunday Times newspaper in the UK headlined their investigation “Secretive Swiss trader links City to Iraq oil scam”.

Perhaps, Glencore is going public to increase its size, allowing it to acquire large competitors, particularly the mining giant Xstrata.

Regardless of the firm’s reasons, institutional investors from the US, East Asia and the Middle East have all committed to buying.

Aabar, the sovereign wealth fund from the United Arab Emirates, controlled by Abu Dhabi’s oil-rich monarchs, is expected to become the largest “cornerstone investor”, pledging to buy about $1billion worth of stock.

“Stability is to be prized,” said Oxfam’s David Green. And that is the last thing Glencore wants, as it’s instability which is most profitable – for those who have the inside knowledge to exploit it.

>>16495112

>>16495120

>“Stability is to be prized,” said Oxfam’s David Green. And that is the last thing Glencore wants, as it’s instability which is most profitable – for those who have the inside knowledge to exploit it.

[History repeats]

“Glencore riding energy crunch to record profits” – 20 June 2022

https://www.australianresourcesandinvestment.com.au/2022/06/20/glencore-riding-energy-crunch-to-record-profits/

20 June 2022

Glencore is earning more money in a six-month period than it would in a typical calendar year amid booming thermal coal prices.

The major miner said its commodities trading unit was on track to post a $US3.2 billion ($4.6 billion) EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) for the six months to June 30, nearing the record profit the division enjoyed in the 2021 calendar year ($US3.7 billion).

To put that into perspective, Glencore’s long-term guidance for annual EBIT is between $US2.2–3.2 billion.

It comes as the company forecasts its thermal coal benchmarks to rise from $US32 per tonne (as announced in February 2022) to between $US82–86 per tonne (t) for the half year. This has coincided with the Newcastle thermal coal price ballooning from $US175/t to $US318/t across the same timeframe.

While earnings have jumped, so have costs and Glencore said it was poised to increase its FOB (free on board) thermal unit cost from an earlier 2022 guidance of $US59.3/t to between $US75–78 for the six-month period. The company has felt the pinch of rising prices for fuel, electricity and logistics.

With Russia–Ukraine war continuing to destabilise commodities, Glencore said its trading unit had responded to the cause.

“Our marketing business has successfully navigated the extraordinary global challenges faced during the period, being a source of continuous and reliable commodity supply to our vast customer base,” the company said in a statement.

“Against this challenging and elevated risk backdrop, our marketing segment’s financial performance has continued to be supported by periods of heightened to extreme levels of market volatility, supply disruption and tight physical market conditions, particularly relating to global energy markets.”

Several commodities have reached record high prices in the midst of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, with coal producers a particular beneficiary given Europe’s denial of Russian energy sources.

Glencore operates 17 coal mines across New South Wales and Queensland.

>>16502894

I found this on Gunvor’s website regarding Gunvor SA.

GUNVOR SUCCESSFULLY CLOSES USD 1.225 BILLION REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY

https://gunvorgroup.com/news/gunvor-successfully-closes-usd-1-225-billion-revolving-credit-facility/

13 November 2020

Gunvor Group Ltd (“Gunvor” or the “Group”) has signed a USD 1.225 billion revolving credit facility (“RCF” or “Facility”) in favour of Gunvor International B.V. and Gunvor SA. Initially launched at USD 1 billion, the Facility received strong support from Gunvor’s banking partners and showed substantial over-subscription of 22.5%.

“The strong, continued support Gunvor has seen from our banking partners underscores their confidence in our business model, as well as our position as a top energy trader,” said Gunvor Group CFO Muriel Schwab. “Established trading companies with robust risk management and corporate governance have benefited during this tumultuous year. Prudent trading amidst the volatility and a consistent underlying business have further reinforced Gunvor’s ability to deliver a strong performance. For us, this translates into continued solid access to unsecured sources of funding and a positive outlook.”

“Gunvor pins future on Swedish CEO after Russian co-founder exits” (Part 1 of 3)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-gunvor-idUSBREA2N05O20140324

March 24, 2014

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In 2007, when Torbjorn Tornqvist first emerged from the shadows of the Geneva-based oil trading empire he helped build, he had one message to tell: Russian President Vladimir Putin has nothing to do with Gunvor.

“We don’t deny we have excellent contacts,” the steely-voiced Swedish oil trader told Reuters, in what was the first interview of his 30-year career. “To involve Mr Putin and any of his staff in this dialogue is speculation.”

Seven years on, Tornqvist, 60, is still dogged by the same speculation, this time provoked by the United States slapping sanctions on his long-time partner, Gennady Timchenko, one of the most loyal businessmen to Putin.

The U.S. government says Putin has “investments” in Gunvor and may have access to its funds, an allegation Gunvor fiercely denies. Hours after the announcement of the sanctions - designed to put pressure on Russia for its annexation of Crimea - Gunvor said Timchenko had sold his stake to Tornqvist.

Now, with a majority stake and 100 percent of the voting shares, Tornqvist has much work to do to convince his trading partners that Gunvor can still grow and thrive without Timchenko.

“This is certainly the most challenging moment in Gunvor’s history,” Tornqvist told Reuters on Friday.

The imposing chief executive, an avid sailor with a shaven head, teamed up with Timchenko to form Gunvor in 2000. The firm has grown from a niche player in Baltic Sea oil exports into the No.4 oil trader, handling 3 percent of the world’s oil.

Gunvor says 80 percent of its business is unrelated to Russia. It has poached top traders from firms like France's Total TOTF.PA, bought refineries in Europe and expanded into coal, natural gas and key Asian markets. With annual turnover of near $100 billion, Gunvor has 1,600 employees in 20 offices.

“Gunvor is more than 1 country or 2 people,” the firm said on Twitter on Friday. “Gunvor is global.”

Yet the U.S. sanctions on Timchenko have brought Gunvor’s Russia ties once again to the fore. On Friday, major U.S. banks and traders scrambled to understand whether they could continue dealing with the firm.

Washington did not slap sanctions on Gunvor itself as Timchenko owned less than half the company, but the Treasury Department warned Americans to "act with caution" when dealing with companies that may be controlled "by means other than a majority ownership interest." (Link to Treasury statement: r.reuters.com/fer77v)

“Gunvor pins future on Swedish CEO after Russian co-founder exits” – Rosneft (Part 2 of 3)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-gunvor-idUSBREA2N05O20140324

March 24, 2014

FROM RUSSIA, WITH OIL

Tornqvist began his career the way many of the industry's top executives did: working for a major oil company. At BP BP.L, Tornqvist had a front-row seat to the birth of the modern oil market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

He left BP in 1983 and joined Scandinavian Trading Co, an oil trading venture that AB Volvo had acquired several years earlier, according to a biography on Gunvor’s website. The firm, known as STC, was that year in the midst of dealing with heavy speculative trading losses. By 1989, when he left STC, it was scaling back operations.

Tornqvist became managing director of the oil division of Intermaritime Group Petrotrade, which was part of Swiss oil man Bruce Rappaport’s energy, banking and shipping empire.

Tornqvist teamed up with Timchenko in 1997, and three years later the two formally launched Gunvor, a name that translates to “Vigilant in War” in old Scandinavian. His own name, Torbjorn, means Thunder Bear.

Gunvor began making its name a decade ago by pioneering small shipments of Russia’s fast-expanding crude oil production out of the Estonian port of Tallinn, one of the only Baltic export terminals at the time.

The firm grew spectacularly, at one point becoming the biggest exporter of Russian oil thanks to contracts with state majors such as Rosneft ROSN.MM.

Timchenko has repeatedly denied that Putin helped him create his business empire and insisted that contracts were won at competitive tenders. Putin himself made several statements saying he never helped Timchenko.

By 2007, Gunvor was already looking further afield, seeking to get access to oil exports from Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

“We are confident our growth will continue but not in Russia,” Tornqvist said.

In 2012, Gunvor bought its first refinery in Antwerp, the same small plant once owned by his former boss, Rappaport.

In the last few years, Gunvor ceded its leading positions in Russia to rivals such as Glencore GLEN.L and Vitol, and now focuses on trading in Europe and Asia.

Yet Russia remains core to Gunvor’s success, with investments such as a major oil products terminal at Ust Luga, a Russian Baltic port. It is the company’s single largest investment, and a lucrative, 25 million metric ton a year gateway for Russia’s growing oil product exports, rivals say.

“He did exactly what all of us did - expand in new markets and buy industrial assets. And he did it very aggressively,” the head of a major rival house said.

“Gunvor pins future on Swedish CEO after Russian co-founder exits” (Part 3 of 3)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-gunvor-idUSBREA2N05O20140324

March 24, 2014

“WE DID IT”

Tornqvist now faces the future as Gunvor’s sole majority shareholder with an 87 percent stake. He said Timchenko’s abrupt divestment was part of a contingency plan that was worked out as the Russia crisis deepened in recent weeks.

“By Wednesday, we were pretty convinced that the sale was the only way forward for the company,” said Tornqvist.

It is not known where Tornqvist raised the money to buy Timchenko’s stake in Gunvor, whose industrial assets are valued at $2 billion. Timchenko and Tornqvist had each owned 43.5 percent of the firm, with the remainder held by employees.

Tornqvist said the deal was priced at a fair value but would not give any details on financing. Forbes estimated Tornqvist’s net worth at $2.6 billion, making him the 15th richest Swede.

In both his personal and professional life, Tornqvist has not been easily daunted by disaster.

>>16526291

>Tornqvist became managing director of the oil division of Intermaritime Group Petrotrade, which was part of Swiss oil man Bruce Rappaport’s energy, banking and shipping empire.

It is all connected.

“George Soros: Where did he get his money?” – Including Bruce Rappaport, Marc Rich, Rothschild family (Part 1 of 2)

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1993/eirv20n12-19930319/eirv20n12-19930319_010-george_soros_where_did_he_get_hi.pdf

March 19, 1993

As EIR reported on Jan. 29, financier George Soros gained notoriety for making $1-2 billion in a speculative binge against the pound and the lira on the financial derivatives markets, thereby wrecking the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. One of the mysteries for financial analysts was how Soros, whose investment fund holdings have an estimated value of only $7 billion, could mobilize what some estimate to be $40 billion for purposes of defeating the Bundesbank and Bank of England in their efforts to save these currencies. An ongoing investigation by EIR has discovered some startling facts about Soros's financial patrons, including his close ties with all national branches of the Rothschild family.

Trouble for the Rothschilds

The primary vehicle for Soros's speculative binge was his Quantum Fund NV, based in the Netherlands Antilles. Two of the Quantum Fund's eight board members are retainers of the Rothschild family. Although long considered to have attained Olympian status in finance, the Rothschilds have been losing their reputation as "untouchables" because of the machinations of their bank in Zurich, Switzerland. This bank, which is owned jointly by the British and French branches of the family, has recently come under investigation by Swiss magistrates for major irregularities. The scandal was so great that the French Rothschild Baron Elie has been forced to cede day-to-day control to the British Evelyn de Rothschild. One of the Rothschild family retainers on the board of the Quantum Fund is Richard Katz, managing director of Rothschild Italia SpA. and a director of N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd., London. According to British financial investigators, Rothschild Italia is controlled by Edmund de Rothschild, who held minority control of the Zurich branch under Baron Elie de Rothschild, when that bank was wracked by scandal. It was charged that the Zurich branch had organized massive, illegal currency flight from Italy to Switzerland. As for Katz's position on the board of N .M. Rothschild in London, it implicates this ostensible pillar of the British establishment in Soros's depradations against the British pound.

The second Rothschild retainer on Quantum's board is Nils O. Taube, chief executive officer of St. James Place Capital. The firm is controlled by Jacob Rothschild, son of the notorious Lord Victor. St. James Capital is interlocked with Global Asset Management, which is run by a former Rothschild family adviser, Gilbert de Bretton. GAM was originally called St. James Management Services.

“George Soros: Where did he get his money?” – George Soros, Bruce Rappaport, Marc Rich, Rothschild family (Part 2 of 2)

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1993/eirv20n12-19930319/eirv20n12-19930319_010-george_soros_where_did_he_get_hi.pdf

March 19, 1993

The Marc Rich empire

According to sources at the Wall Street Journal corroborated by British financial investigators, the Rothschild bank in Zurich had extensive dealings with fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich. Well-informed sources report that Rich, together with a group of Israeli financiers, may have been another major source of the loans used by Soros to speculate against the pound and the lira. Rich's connection to the Rothschild bank in Zurich was another one of the scandals that brought about the scrutiny of Swiss magistrates. A spokesman who managed Soros Fund Management's currency portfolio, while acknowledging that Soros had drawn on lines of credit for his speculative binge, refused to name the banks from which he had borrowed, However, he did deny any dealings with Marc Rich.

Rich, who fled to Switzerland to escape charges of income tax evasion in the United States, has much in common with Soros's policies of preying upon the former East bloc. In a Jan. 4, 1993 commentary in the Washington Post, Soros proposed a neo-colonial welfare scheme for Russia. In exchange for the West paying Russian citizens $6 a day, Soros said, "Factories could be idle and the raw materials and energy that go into production could be sold for more than the output." From the headquartters of his Marc Rich and Co. in Zug, Switzerland, Rich began trading with Moscow in the 1980s, and today he is one of the largest traders doing an estimated $1. 2 billion in deals with Russia. According to a June 22, 1992 Forbes magazine article, Rich takes grain, Cuban sugar, alumina, and machinery to Russia, and gets back oil and refined aluminum ingot at highly favorable prices. In 1991, Rich purchased 500,000 tons of Russia's aluminum, more than half of its total exports. When Rich dumped the aluminum on the London Metal Exchange, prices were halved.

Apart from his tax problems, there is good reason for the Soros group to deny any dealings with Rich. Rich is a business partner of Bruce Rappaport, who gained notoriety as a friend of Oliver North's Iran-Contra gang at the ReaganBush White House. Rappaport was the real recipient of the $10 million payment from Iraq for Hawk missiles, which the Iran-Contra gang claimed had been "lost" through its diversion to the wrong Swiss aocount.

According to sources, one of the men who has mutual business dealings with both Rich and Rappaport is Alfred Hartmann, a top executive at the Rothschild family's Zurich branch bank, as well as a director of Rothschild Continuation in Zug. Rothschild Continuation is a holding company for the London N.M. Rothschild. Through his dealings with these Rothschild family banks, together with their clients such as Rich, George Soros is in the middle of one of the dirtiest gangs of financial manipulators in business today.

“Govt. illegally sells Malawi National Oil Company”

https://malawi24.com/2018/10/13/govt-illegally-sells-malawi-national-oil-company/

October 13, 2018

Government has illegally sold National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) to a company owned by a Swedish oil billionaire, it has emerged.

According to reports, billionaire Tobjörn Törnqvist’s Gunvor Group will pay government $500 million in order to operate fuel reserves in Mchinji, in a deal that contravenes Malawi’s energy laws.

Gunvor Group expressed interest to operate the facility and internal processes are underway to finalize the contract.

In the proposed agreement, it said that Gunvor will begin to transport fuel into the country from Nacala in Mozambique on behalf of Nocma.

It is believed that Guvnor was given preferential treatment because of the alleged internal interests from Nocma CEO Mr. Gift Dulla.

“The foreign hauling company is not registered with Mera or IHB, who is the broker. In this case Gunvor will operate without Mera’s licence which is a violation of Energy Laws and all their payments are done in United States dollars, a scarce resource for our country which must be preserved and not wasted as is the current case,” a source said.

After signing a contract with Malawi Government, Gunvor Group will be issued with licences which will include fuel importation, transportation, wholesale and retail fuel trade, production, storage and bulk fuel purchase.

There are concerns that such an arrangement would be monopolistic and will take ordinary Malawians out of business.

Gunvor is a company which has heavy links to Gennady Timchenko which is under United States sanctions.

>>16526372

>Government has illegally sold National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) to a company owned by a Swedish oil billionaire [Tobjörn Törnqvist’s Gunvor Group], it has emerged.

South Africa Connections in Malawi

>>16326020

>He [Judge Johann Kriegler] has chaired international enquiries into judicial independence in Uganda and Malawi

>>16404192

>The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Economy in Malawi, which was established by Brenthurst Foundation, is one of the many boards and advisory panels that he [Nicky Oppenheimer] has sat on.

>>16483690

> The Acquisition is fully in line with the Company’s stated strategy of focussing on cash generating opportunities that expand SacOil’s operations across the oil and gas value chain on the African continent. Following completion of the Acquisition, SacOil’s portfolio will comprise of operated production activities in Egypt, exploration in Democratic Republic of Congo, alongside partner TOTAL E&P RDC, Malawi and Botswana, a crude trading allocation with Nigerian National Petroleum Company and fuel distribution operations in Southern Africa.

“The $400 Million South African Mafia (Morningshot Original)” – Construction Mafia

https://youtu.be/Jw48wcGgZcs

In today's Morningshot Original we look at the South African Construction Mafia. We look at how the Mafia is stopping infrastructure builds across South Africa and how the Mafia itself is being legitimised due to government inaction.

The Mafia itself is aligned to the RET [Radical Economic Transformation] division of the governing and ruling party, the ANC. And to date the Police seem powerless to confront them leaving many to simply factor in their protection costs into their construction costs. Where these costs are too high the developments themselves are simply mothballed leaving infrastructure in a decaying state.

>>16526654

>>16548689

“Extortion or transformation? The construction mafia in South Africa”

https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/extortion-construction-mafia-south-africa/

14 June 2022

This report focuses on understanding how these criminal groups, widely referred to as the construction mafia, operate, their involvement in systemic extortion, and the long-term implications for the construction industry in South Africa.

Dubbed the ‘construction mafia’ in the media, these people have organized themselves into groups known as ‘local business forums’ and invaded construction sites across the country, demanding money or a stake in development projects in what can arguably be described as systemic extortion. These activities have been fuelled by the weak response from the state, allowing them to expand their activities. In 2019, at least 183 infrastructure and construction projects worth more than R63 billion had been affected by these disruptions across the country. Since then, invasions have continued at construction sites across South Africa.

Disrupting the construction extortion economy, particularly in areas where it has taken root, will not be an easy task. However, not addressing it will affect the construction sector and the country, and failure to deal with this type of extortion is also likely to spread such practices to other sectors of the economy.

This report provides government, businesses, and communities with recommendations on building a comprehensive strategy for dealing with systemic extortion and strengthening partnerships between private sector organizations, local communities, civil society organizations, local government, and state actors.

51 page report can be found at https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GITOC-Extortion-or-Transformation-The-construction-mafia-in-South-Africa.pdf

“Failure to tackle the construction mafia will have dire consequences, report warns”

https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/failure-to-tackle-the-construction-mafia-will-have-dire-consequences-report-warns-2022-06-20/rep_id:4136

The report was written by GI-TOC senior analyst Jenni Irish-Quobosheane, who said the activities of the construction mafia have been fuelled by the weak response from government, which has allowed the groups to expand their activities.

The damage caused by these business forums has not only resulted in delays in the delivery of a number of important infrastructure projects, but also contributed to the demise of a number of businesses.

The South African construction mafia has its roots in the townships of Umlazi and KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal, where the Delangokubona Business Forum and KwaMashu Youth In Action Movement emerged in 2015.

After targeting projects in their respective local townships, the two groups came together to form the Federation for Radical Economic Transformation (FFRET) and widened their scope of influence across the province.

In 2020, the FFRET rebranded itself as the Black Business Federation in an effort to appear more legitimate.

Since 2018, these groups and various emulators started to invade construction sites nationally, demanding as much as 30% of the contract value. The groups are characterised by their willingness and ability to use violence to get their way.

While construction projects are the groups’ main targets, they have also disrupted provincial and local government processes and have even invaded a non-construction company, sparking concerns that the extortion will soon spread to other sectors.

Several of these business forums have clear links to certain politicians and have therefore been accused as acting on behalf of them. There are also links to certain players in the mass transit taxi industry, the report states.

While many companies have acquired interdicts against these forums, they have little to no effect. Other companies have chosen to negotiate with the forums, lending them an unfortunate veneer of credibility and further cementing their role in the construction sector economy.