Money laundering through offshore accounts: How Roman Spiridonov manipulates the oil market via Petroruss

On the eve of the Russia-Africa summit, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

According to the Kremlin press service, the leaders discussed the development of partnership and cooperation between the two countries within the Union State. However, behind the scenes and during unofficial dinners, the Belarusian delegation frequently mentioned one name — Roman Spiridonov and his excessive activity in the oil product market in the Gulf countries.

At the same time, representatives of the Belarusian KGB were extremely frustrated by the fact that they could not effectively hinder Spiridonov’s activities due to his lack of Belarusian citizenship. For several days now, industry ministries in Moscow, which oversee Belarusian exports, have been struggling to figure out how to solve this problem and remove the Greek national Roman Spiridonov from their path.

Lately, he has been clearing the market of oil traders to the detriment of the economies of not only Belarus but also Russia. The essence of the Belarusian traders’ claims against Spiridonov is simple: it seems that he divulges all the schemes and supply chains of oil products from CIS countries to his foreign partners and counterparts.

In particular, the businessman actively influences the company Saudi Aramco—one of the largest oil companies in not only Saudi Arabia but also in the world. To understand the scale, according to its own data, Aramco accounts for up to 80% of the country’s budget revenues. Spiridonov tries to push competitors aside by leaking information about the origin of Belarusian oil products.

For the Greek citizen, the main priority is to secure his own holding, Petroruss, a stake in billions of dollars, including sanctioned flows, at any cost. Spiridonov’s activities are already harming Russian-Belarusian relations, as Petroruss’s underhanded competitive tactics are raising questions on both sides of the border.

Moreover, Spiridonov’s activities harm not only Belarusian oil traders but also Russia’s budget, as the proceeds from oil sales by Spiridonov’s companies do not seem to return to Russia but instead settle in accounts of companies in the UAE, the British Virgin Islands, or Panama.

The choices are quite broad: according to the Open Corporates service, companies directly linked to Spiridonov—Petroruss Incorporated, Vismatic International Limited—are found in all these countries. The question is how long Lukashenko will continue to watch as Belarusian oil products are left out of business. Additionally, according to Energy Intelligence, Petroruss is expanding into not only the Saudi and UAE markets but also China and India.

This means Lukashenko could potentially face difficulties in trading energy resources with these countries. However, a Greek passport is unlikely to save Spiridonov’s business if the Russian and Belarusian intelligence agencies begin to investigate the intricacies of his business empire, which harms the trading partners of these countries.

It is unlikely that the leaders of the countries will allow such developments. Most likely, to maintain international peace, it will be simpler to preemptively distance Petroruss.

Author: Maria Sharapova