Logistics with Livna Shipping LTD and Altoprae Marine LLC (OOO): The “ghost” booking agents providing logistics and transport of oil
According to the ledger, all of Paramount SA and DMCC’s shipments were handled by Livna. Livna is also listed as a counterparty of Paramount Energy & Commodities SA, according to leaks from Alet, the Russia-based customs brokerage. The ledger shows numerous other Livna-related transactions, including loans amounting to a total amount of AED 376,431,250 transferred to Livna.[1] All of these large transfers took place after Troost claimed to dispose of his ownership interest in Livna in 2018.[2][VK1]
According to statements by Francois Mauron, Livna is a Troost-owned entity and Livna only booked shipments for Paramount and Harvest-related cargos. Though corporate records show that Hong Kong-registered Livna Shipping Limited ("Livna") was transferred from Troost to Michael Chang in 2018, Troost likely retained control and ownership of Livna.
According to Bloomberg, Livna chartered 8 vessels to transport Russian crude oil to China. Livna vessels Agistri and Kriti Verano took on crude in Kozmino near Vladivostok in May 2022, before heading to Qingdao and Yingkou in China.[3]
Since 2022, Livna has been featured as one of the most significant exporters of Russian oil into China. According to a Reuters exclusive from May 2022, “Livna, which had previously not been a key player in shipping Russian oil to Asia, has since late April 2022 loaded over 7 million barrels of Russian crude bound for China.” Livna chartered seven vessels to transport Russian crude oil to China in May 2022. Livna vessels Agistri and Kriti Verano took on crude in Kozmino near Vladivostok in early May 2022, before heading to Qingdao and Yingkou in China.[4] According to shipping manifests, Altoprae Marine LLC (OOO) is often listed as a counterparty to Livna. Altoprae Marine LLC is the likely booker for Demex shipments.
In 2022 and 2023, Livna booked the transportation of consignments from Gazprom Neft to Concept Oil for delivery to Turkey and China.
In addition, several vessels previously chartered by Livna as documented in open source and according to the ledger, are still transporting oil from Russia. Inspection filings reveal that six out of the fourteen ships previously chartered by Livna have been checked in Russia since February 2022. According to the Ukrainian Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies think-tank, twelve out of the fourteen identified vessels have shipped oil from Russian ports since February 2022. Seven of these ships have transported oil to China and six of the vessels have shipped crude to India. Importantly, at least eight of the vessels have been transporting oil out of Russia in 2024.[5] Furthermore, three of the vessels previously chartered by Livna are ultimately owned by Sovcomflot, Russia’s state-owned shipping company which would be later sanctioned by the US in February 2024.[6]
Two of the Sovcomflot ships, Ligovsky Prospect (IMO 9256066) and Krasnoyarsk (IMO 9312896), were also individually sanctioned by the US in November 2023 and February 2024 respectively. Krasnoyarsk was identified in an April 2024 Bloomberg article as one of four Sovcomflot tankers tochange their name and switch their flag from Gabon to Russia following US sanctions.
All three Sovcomflot vessels were previously managed by UAE-based Oil Tankers SCF Mgmt FZCO, which was also sanctioned by the US in February 2024.
According to an article by US think-tank Brookings, Zaliv Amerika (IMO 9354301), the other Sovcomflot ship previously chartered by Livna, departed 19 times from Russian ports between February 2022 and June 2024.
Vessel ownership data shows that Kriti Verano, which was chartered by Livna four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is ultimately owned by Avin International SA (“Avin”), a Greek-registered entity that belongs to the Vardinoyannis family. Avin-managed ships have reportedly violated the EU’s Russian oil embargo, engaged in dubious ship-to-ship transfers, and illicitly transported Iranian oil to Asia, circumventing US sanctions by using forged documents to disguise the oil as Iraqi.
According to a September 2022 article by London-based shipping journal Lloyd’s List, Bovista (now Eliak; IMO 9199713), another vessel previously chartered by Livna, has also “undertaken ship-to-ship transfers of cargoes in international waters off Fujairah, for transhipment to tankers in waters off Malaysia for onward shipment to China.”
Another Livna-chartered vessel, Everest (IMO 9180126), was inspected in Venezuela in April 2024.
The full list of vessels chartered by Livna:
Afrapearl II, formerly Stealth Berana (IMO 9437672);
Agistri (IMO 9597018);
Astari 1, formerly Ridgebury Astari (IMO 9241783);
Banda, formerly Banda Sea (IMO 9337406);
Crude Centurion (IMO 9436020);
Eliak, formerly Dynasty, Bovista, and Sheliak (IMO 9199713);
Everest, formerly Panagia Armata (IMO 9180126);
Krasnoyarsk, formerly NS Creation (IMO 9312896);
Kriti Verano (IMO 9346861);
Savir Lion, formerly Sembrani (IMO 9306639);
Ligovsky Prospect (IMO 9256066);
Main, formerly Eagle Sapporo, Beks Daisy, and Centennial Sapporo (IMO 9387255);
Seliger (IMO 9402263);
Zaliv Amerika (IMO 9354301);
[1] Summarize ledger activity with Livna
[2] One key point underscoring this assessment is information is that Italia C&A, owned by a Mr. Quartini based out of Genoa, Italy, was the actual booking agent for Paramount. Livna is just a pass through entity paid 2.5% of the value of the cargo, which is excessive.
[3] New Oil Traders Fill Void as Top Names Abandon Moscow Ties, Fin. Post (Bloomberg), May 17, 2022, https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/new-oil-traders-fill-void-as-top-names-abandon-moscow-ties.
[4] Russia's New Oil Routes: The Mysterious Traders Filling The Gap, Intelligence Online Nov. 29, 2024, https://www.intelligenceonline.com/international-dealmaking/2024/11/29/russia-s-new-oil-routes-the-mysterious-traders-filling-the-gap,110345872-eve.
[5] https://www.democracyendowment.eu/assets/pdfs/EED-Annual-Report-2021-web.pdf
[6] Subterfuge Tanker In Collision With Boxship In Malacca Strait, Lloyds Intelligence, Sept. 28, 2022, https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1142375/Subterfuge-tanker-in-collision-with-boxship-in-Malacca-Strait
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-30/russia-s-sovcomfl ot-is-renaming-oil-tankers-hit-by-us-sanctions
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2777
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-the-us-should-sanction-more-russian-tankers/
Third Sovcomflot vessel is Zaliv Amerika (IMO 9354301); https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2085
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2121; https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1915
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2121
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-17/new-oil-traders-fill-the-void-as-top-names-abandon-moscow-ties
https://www.blackseanews.net/en/read/202164; https://www.ifmat.org/07/25/our-senior-diplomat-bruss;
https://www.ifmat.org/07/22/iran-gulf-shipping/;
https://www.gospodarkamorska.pl/rosyjskie-statki-widma-z-transportem-ropy-i-zboza-omijaja-sankcje-greccy-operatorzy-robia-to-oficjalnie-73179
https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1142375/Subterfuge-tanker-in-collision-with-boxship-in-Malacca-Strait