Bunker Holding — one of the world's biggest suppliers of marine fuel — said on Wednesday with contrition that it will not appeal a Danish court ruling earlier this month that found the company in breach of European Union sanctions on Syria.
At the same time, the company's ownership expressed full support for chief executive Keld Demant, who received a suspended jail sentence, and assured it has drawn valuable lessons from its legal travails.
The 14 December judgment by the Odense city court shows that "it is no longer sufficient to screen trades against direct counterparties", Bunker Holding said in a statement in which it said it decided against appealing the ruling, "in order to put an end to a complicate case".
"Rather it [the ruling] points out the need to check your customers' counterparts, even including several links downstream, in order to control the usage of the product being sold," the company added.
As TradeWinds reported, Bunker Holding and its Dan-Bunkering unit were fined a combined DKK 34m ($5.2m) for breaking EU sanctions on Syria in 33 separate trades.
A total of 172,000 tonnes of jet fuel worth about $100m was sold between 2015 and 2017 to two Russian companies with delivery in the eastern Mediterranean.
The court found that Dan-Bunkering's Russian branch, which conducted the transactions, should have known that its clients would likely use the fuel in violation of EU rules over Syria — a country riven by a civil war in which Russian troops have been actively involved.
No direct intention
On top of the fines, Demant received a suspended four-month prison sentence.
However, the company's top brass closed ranks behind their beleaguered chief executive on Wednesday.
Klaus Nyborg, vice chairman of the board of directors, said: "Keld R Demant has the full and unchanged support of the board of directors and the ownership, and will continue as the CEO of Bunker Holding.
"The court did not find that he had acted with direct intent or intentionally had acted in breach of EU sanctions."
Bunker Holding also said it continued enjoying "unchanged support" from clients, bankers and insurers since the ruling.
The company also vowed that it has already tightened internal checks and training to avoid falling into the same situation again.
An internal compliance system has been checking more than 100,000 trades per year against international sanctions lists, it said.
Torben Ostergaard-Nielsen, co-owner and chairman of the board of directors, said: "Bunker Holding is the world's largest bunker company and, as such, we have an obligation to take the lead in compliance and set the highest standards for ourselves to ensure that the company at all times abides by all trade sanctions."
