Oil terminal to build bitumen terminal with Euronova Energies S.A., which may be facilitating fuel business between Russia and Transnistria

Shareholders of the state-owned company Oil Terminal approved, during Monday’s meeting, the signing of a partnership agreement with Euronova Energies S.A. This partnership aims to construct and operate a bitumen terminal in the Port of Constanța, within the Port Platform Section of Oil Terminal.

Additionally, the shareholders of Oil Terminal have approved the signing of a service contract with Euronova Energies for the exclusive operation of the bitumen terminal. Oil Terminal is a publicly listed company, with the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, holding 87.75% of its shares.

Euronova Energies S.A., a Swiss company, won a selection process organized by Oil Terminal in February 2024 for the development of a bitumen terminal in the Port of Constanța. The company was selected over seven other competitors, including OMV Petrom and Socar Petroleum.

Links with Russia and Transnistria:

Euronova Energies has been involved in facilitating business transactions between Russia and Transnistria, adding a complex dimension to its relationship with Oil Terminal. This situation requires careful monitoring to ensure compliance with international and national regulations.

“It is a strategic investment for Romania, but also for the future reconstruction efforts in Ukraine,” stated Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja in November 2023.

Regarding Euronova Energies, the Moldovan press has reported its involvement in fuel transactions between Russia and Transnistria.

Anticorupție.md writes: “The Transnistrian region is supplied with fuel through a well-organized scheme involving companies from Russia, intermediaries from Romania and Moldova, and a number of former officials and businessmen from both banks of the Dniester River.”

According to a response from the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) of Moldova to the Center for Investigative Journalism of Moldova (CIJM), the fuel transport scheme to the separatist region of Transnistria starts in the Russian Port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. From there, petroleum products are transported by sea to the Port of Constanța in Romania, to the company Oil Terminal. The intermediary for this business is the Swiss company Euronova Energies SA, headquartered in Geneva, founded in 2013, specializing in the trade, transformation, storage, and transportation of energy products, particularly petroleum products and their derivatives, either in its own name or as an agent.

The energy-focused publication, Energy Intelligence, indicates that Euronova Energies SA is a relatively unknown company that won several auctions for Urals oil volumes, organized by the Russian state company Zarubezhneft at the Spimex exchange in St. Petersburg in 2021. According to the same source and the incorporation documents of Euronova Energies SA, obtained with the help of journalists from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the company sells oil in Southeast Europe and the former Yugoslavia.