The Russian oil pipeline through Malta: investigators examine Alkagesta’s role in a $10 billion shadow trade across the Mediterranean

The Russian oil pipeline through Malta: investigators examine Alkagesta’s role in a $10 billion shadow trade across the Mediterranean

The net is tightening around Alkagesta. EU and UK investigators are looking into claims that the company quietly moved Russian oil to Libya — bypassing sanctions and international law.

Alkagesta, which holds the most voluminous oil bunkering operation in Malta, has also been previously suspected of being involved in the Libyan oil smuggling industry, also by using fraudulent certificates of origin for their oil product.

Libya imports around a third of its refined oil products from Russia because it does not have enough domestic refining capabilities for its own needs.

Sources cite at least two recent cases of oil tankers carrying Russian oil for Alkagesta to Malta and Libya which fraudulently claimed that the oil came from Kazakhstan.

Alkagesta uses the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank, which is one of the last remaining European banks that still operates in Russia. In Malta, Alkagesta also hired Russian-speaking employees.

Industry sources and reporters estimate that the Russian Mediterranean Dark Fleet is involved in a $10 billion industry in terms of trading volume per year with the trading routes stretching from Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Malta and Libya. Malta is an important and strategic location for the illegal Libyan oil trade and potentially serves as a major hub for the transfer of Russian oil.

Oil sales that were transacted in Hurd’s Bank have also occasionally been registered in Malta but the actual sales and transfers taking place in Hurd’s Bank are thought to be significantly under-reported.

Alkagesta says that it has a “high level of compliance” wherever it operates. They also threatened legal action against “false accusations”.