commodity founded 2000 founder gennady timchenko torbj rn t rnqvist de headquarters geneva switzerland head office nicosia cyprus registered office 1 area served global key people torbj rn t rnqvist services energy trading raw materials net income us 433 million 2012 2 number of employees 1 600 2012 website gunvorgroup.com gunvor group ltd is a global commodity trading company registered in cyprus 3 with its main trading office in geneva switzerland . 1 gunvor also has trading offices in singapore the bahamas and dubai with a network of representative offices around the globe . the company operates in the trade transport storage and optimization of petroleum and other energy products as well as having investments in oil terminal and port facilities . its operations consist of securing crude oil upstream and delivering it to market via pipelines and tankers . the company which was founded in 2000 is the fourth largest crude oil trader in the world after glencore vitol and trafigura . 4 5 the company was co founded and controlled by gennady timchenko together with torbj rn t rnqvist after whose mother the company is named 6 citation not found ; however due to united states sanctions timchenko sold his stake in the company to t rnqvist in march 2014 . 7 8 gunvor s largest single supplier of crude oil was once russia though the company now originates most of its crude oil from the americas with less than 13 percent coming from russia . 9 10 it also trades african asian and south american crude and is active on all continents . 11 in 2011 gunvor was trading less than 20 % of russia s seaborne oil . 12 contents 1 early years 2 logistics and infrastructures 3 expansion 4 ownership 5 controversies 6 references 6.1 notes 6.2 further reading 7 external links early years edit gennady timchenko and torbj rn t rnqvist began working together in 1997 and formalized gunvor in 2000 . 13 in 2003 the company started operations in geneva . 14 according to the financial times until 2007 the company was a niche player 15 focused on exporting russian oil through estonia relying on the expertise of its two founders in the oil business russian market and transit logistics . torbj rn t rnqvist is a swedish citizen born in 1953 . he has traded oil across the world for over twenty years beginning his career at bp . gennady timchenko is a finnish citizen born in the soviet union in 1952 . he has more than 20 years experience in the oil industry beginning with the kirishi refinery during perestroika and was one of the first russians to export oil to europe after the soviet union collapsed . in 2007 gunvor s turnover was us 43 billion with exports of 83 million tons of oil and petroleum products up from 60 million tons in 2006 . in 2010 the company s turnover grew to us 65 billion up from us 53 billion in 2009 with volumes increasing to 104 million tons . 16 logistics and infrastructures edit gunvor has invested in oil storages facilities railway transportation as well as port facilities and terminals therefore ensuring a comparative advantage over their competitors according to t rnqvist interviewed by the financial times . 15 according to the company website gunvor is associated with a railway oil transportation company transoil and owns its own shipping company clearlake shipping ltd which shipped 30 % of the baltic crude oil 20.5 million tonnes in 2006 . 17 according to nefte compass from february 2002 to february 2008 russian oil exports through gunvor increased sixteen times . the company controls 60 % of the volume transiting through estonia and 41 % of that transit via the port of primorsk leningrad oblast . in 2009 gunvor made major investments into physical assets such as oil terminals and facilities the largest being into its oil export terminal in the port of ust luga on the baltic sea outside of st petersburg . in september 2009 the terminal was sold to transneft . 18 in september 2009 gunvor made its first direct investment in oil exploration when it purchased a 30 % interest in lagansky block in the caspian sea from lundin petroleum . the field has proven reserves of over 230 million barrels of oil . 19 expansion edit gunvor has expanded beyond its russian roots and trades globally including in the middle east asia africa and the americas with its main trading hubs located in geneva singapore nassau and dubai . 20 the group has also opened offices in amsterdam moscow beijing and nigeria . citation needed gunvor has stated that it intends to develop its new energy trading division so that it will become a more significant part of a more diversified business . in 2009 gunvor established its global energy division 21 focused on trading a broad range of energy commodities including global coal and freight emissions and renewables natural gas and lng and power . the company intends to continue to expand and diversify in 2010 both geographically and across the energy value chain . marking a new phase in its expansion into the european energy markets gunvor entered its first trades in the natural gas power and carbon markets in january 2010 and extending its trading capability across north west and central europe for physical natural gas and coal across the globe . 22 in april 2010 the company hired traders who take responsibility for gunvor s physical gas positions across continental europe d. smith for as a coal trader in 2010 and fredrik bodecke who will be responsible for the nordic and baltic electricity markets . 23 ownership edit the real beneficiaries of gunvor can not be ascertained . it was said that its two co founders held an equal number of shares with the balance being held in an employee benefit trust for senior management . 24 on 19 march 2014 tornqvist bought out timchenko s 43.5 % stake and became a nominal owner of 87 % stake in the company . 7 the sale was made when timchenko was included on the united states sanctions list in the wake of the annexation of crimea by russia due to his close ties with russian president vladimir putin . 8 timchenko explained the sale by anticipating potential economic sanctions and to ensure with certainty the continued and uninterrupted operations of gunvor group . 8 the value of this transaction was not disclosed . 7 controversies edit in 2008 the economist mentioned timchenko in an article that repeated previously published statements about timchenko and gunvor . both of these parties sued for libel . 25 the economist withdrew the contested material from its website . the lawsuit was settled in july 2009 . 26 the economist published a statement 27 stating that in a section of our special report on russia entitled grease my palm 29 november 2008 we referred to gunvor and its co founder gennady timchenko . we are happy to make it clear that when we referred to the new corruption in today s russia we did not intend to suggest that either gunvor or mr timchenko obtained their russian oil business as a result of payment by them of bribes or like corrupt inducements . rosneft sells only 30 40 % of its oil through gunvor rather than the bulk of rosneft s oil as we described it . we accept gunvor s assurances that neither vladimir putin nor other senior russian political figures have any ownership interest in gunvor . we regret if any contrary impression was given . following the major wikileaks release of us state department cables in november 2010 it was reported by the london daily telegraph 28 that the wealth of the then russian prime minister vladimir putin is linked to a secretive swiss based oil trading firm called gunvor . it said that john beyrle the united states ambassador to the russian federation stated that close connections exist between gunvor and the russian government and that he reported its secretive ownership is rumoured to include prime minister putin . the newspaper goes on to report that gunvor has however totally refuted the existence of any links between it and mr putin . gunvor stated in response to the wikileaks disclosure that timchenko and tornqvist owned a large majority of gunvor and that a minority stake is owned by an employee benefit trust . it went on to say that the company had taken out credit facilities which require full disclosure of company ownership . 29 according to former chairman of the russian state duma ivan rybkin 30 31 and russian political scientist stanislav belkovsky 32 33 who was affiliated to the late boris berezovsky a russian oligarch in exile and a political opponent of putin putin controls among other investments 50 % in gunvor run by gennady timchenko a close friend . 34 35 references edit notes edit a b gunvor . gunvorgroup.com . http gunvorgroup.com fact sheets faq archived november 17 2013 at the wayback machine . http www.ft.com intl cms s 0 2e3ad5d0 9572 11e2 a4fa 00144feabdc0.html axzz2sw05yxse secretive russian gunvor becomes number 3 oil trader . reuters . 2007 10 31 . retrieved 2008 06 12 . how billionaire timchenko built his business . uppdrag granskning svt a b c zhdannikov dmitry ; mackey peg ; bousso ron 2014 03 21 . oil firms u.s. banks trade with gunvor after co founder sanctioned . reuters . retrieved 2014 03 22 . a b c johnson luke 2014 03 21 . timchenko sells stake in gunvor . upstream online . nhst media group . retrieved 2014 03 22 . http gunvorgroup.com trading crude oil http www.reuters.com article 2012 10 09 russia oil traders idusl6e8l3h9120121009 p6daleogfzr1jdzf .97 paul samson 2009 04 23 . gunvor expands into us latin america . nefte compass requires a subscription . energy intelligence group inc. retrieved 2009 05 30 . gunvor cuts share russia seaborne oil exports reuters october 10 2011 . 1 die stadt das l und das geld capital a b how gunvor rose to the top of russian oil trading financial times 14 may 2008 gunvor turnover rises in 2010 sees better 2011 reuters february 23 2011 . who is the tsar of baltic oil riverlake group news january 19 2007 eric watkins 2009 09 10 . transneft buys baltic oil terminal from gunvor . oil & gas journal requires subscription . pennwell corporation . retrieved 2010 04 17 . lundin petroleum lundin petroleum partners with gunvor in the lagansky block 2 sep. 2009 http gunvorgroup.com our trading bloomberg gunvor appoints essent s aliabadi head of global energy unit sept 2 2009 risk net gunvor enters natural gas power and carbon markets reza amanat 2010 04 13 . gunvor to expand global trading activity with new hires . dow jones newswires . the wall street journal . retrieved 2010 04 17 . dead link affars varlden secret oil billionaires 22 september 2009 la tribune de geneve vedomosti gennady timchenko and gunvor international bv . the economist . july 30 2009 . retrieved 2009 09 01 . daily telegraph wikileaks putin s secret billions dec 03 2010 oil trading group gunvor denies putin links financial times 2 december 2010 corwin julie a. 13 february 2004 . do not attempt to adjust your set . rfe rl reports . radio free europe . retrieved 2007 12 10 . 2004 02 03 . . in russian . nezavisimaya gazeta newspaper . retrieved 2007 12 10 . now it is putin who is russia s biggest business oligarch . quiring von manfred 12 november 2007 . warum putin gar nicht pr sident bleiben will . die welt . retrieved 2007 12 04 . jonas bernstein 2007 11 19 . staniskav belkovsky putin will leave power completely . the jamestown foundation . archived from the original on 21 november 2007