20 GUNVOR IN CONGO – Oil, cash and misappropriation: the adventures of a Swiss trader in Brazzaville
pointed out that “none of Gunvor’s competitors had proposed such a scheme involving a geopolitical approach”. The first source stated that “this strategy explains why Torbjorn Tornqvist and Gennady Timchenko became so involved. Several delegations of Congolese officials went to Moscow to negotiate cooperation agreements.” Although he remained one of Gunvor’s two main sharehold-
M A X IM E N G A N D Z IO
The aim was to sell Gunvor’s “Russianness”, showing how the firm had access to the highest echelons of power in Moscow.
Gunvor’s e diary II star interm
Son of a Minister in Congo’s first postindependence government. Always good at giving advice! He served as an adviser to Gabonese head of state Omar Bongo and subsequently rendered services in a “special” capacity to Congolese president Sassou Nguesso. He knows how to choose his guests: he lodged Kiki and Claudia Sassou in Gabon when their father had been provisionally and democratically removed from power in Congo (1992–97). He is on the board of the Congo Assistance Foundation, together with the First Lady. He owns offshore companies all over the world. He generously transferred part of the sums received from Gunvor to mysterious Chinese.
was to sell Gunvor’s “Russianness”, showing how the firm had access to the highest echelons of power in Moscow. A second source said the idea was to persuade the Congolese that by aligning themselves with a “structure discreetly controlled by Putin”, they would see “the doors to Russia’s economic cooperation agreements open” in front of their eyes. Moscow would pledge to defend Congo-Brazzaville at the UN, “guaranteeing protection at the Security Council level”. This second source
ers, Timchenko was at that time no longer involved in its dayto-day business. For Gunvor to become a privileged partner of Congo-Brazzaville, however, he was very much active behind the scenes. In 2009, he travelled to Brazzaville with Torbjorn Tornqvist, Gunvor’s other founder and main shareholder, to meet with President Sassou Nguesso. “This was the first time Mr Timchenko was going to Africa. He does not usually get involved in the operational side of things, but given the size of the contract and its political implications, he felt compelled to attend the meetings”, says the first source. According to Gunvor, such summit meetings are commonplace when an oil trading company and a state enter into large contracts.63 Torbjorn Tornqvist follows Gunvor’s Congo activities closely too. According to our sources, he has met several times with President Sassou Nguesso, travelling to Congo on four occasions between 2009 and 2011, together with Jean-Marc Henry, Maxime Gandzion, and Pascal C., before the oil contract was signed. Our sources say that at a meeting where Mr Timchenko was present, the Congolese potentate expressed an interest in “political support” from Vladimir Putin and Russia. He was aware that his regime was increasingly isolated in the West, tainted by corruption scandals, and entangled in public debt. So the idea of a Russian-Congolese cooperation agreement around the oil contract that Gunvor so desired and that would seal the political alignment with Vladimir Putin came to life. We have pieced the rest of the story together: In 2010, Gennady Timchenko then took Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, son of the Congolese president, to Moscow in his private jet. While “hitting the town”, the president’s son, also known as “Kiki”, met up with Russia’s energy minister, Sergei Shmatko, as well as the bosses of Russian energy giants Rosneft, Novatek, and GazpromNeft. Maxime Gandzion, Torbjorn Tornqvist, Stéphane Degenne (head of Gunvor’s African Desk), and Pascal C. were also present. The purpose of the visit was to prove to the Congolese officials that Gunvor was on first name terms with top Russian officials and that it could persuade Moscow to invest in Congo-Brazzaville. Gunvor certainly seems to have had a fair amount of influence in Russia. On 31 August 2011 in Moscow, Russia and Congo signed an intergovernmental agreement on economic coop-