Danish prosecutors have formally charged Bunker Holding, subsidiary Dan-Bunkering and a group director with violating European sanctions on Syria following more than a year of investigation.
The State Prosecutor for Special Economic and International Crime (SOIK) alleged that Dan-Bunkering sold 172,000 tonnes of jet fuel worth DKK 647m ($103m) to Syria between 2015 and 2017.
The bunker trader was alleged to have made 33 separate deals to Russian firms that delivered the jet fuel to Banias, Syria, via various Mediterranean locations.
Bunker Holding and an unnamed group director were involved in eight of the 33 deals, the prosecutors said.
The European Union has had an oil embargo on Syria since 2011 to pressure President Bashar Hafez al-Assad. Russia supports the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war.
"It is our assessment that the dealings with the Russian companies are a violation of EU sanctions,” Per Fiig, acting public prosecutor at SOIK, said in a statement.
“It is of course a very serious case if a Danish company violates EU sanctions that have been imposed on another country on the basis of a very critical and serious situation.”
A local court in Odense is expected to begin hearings on the charges next year.
In a joint statement, Bunker Holding and Dan-Bunkering said: “We take note of these charges and look forward to having the matter fully investigated and concluded at a potential trial.
“However, we are surprised that SOIK has chosen to bring these charges forward. Our own thorough internal investigations have revealed no signs that anyone within Bunker Holding or Dan-Bunkering had any knowledge of the alleged breaches of EU sanctions.
“We have not supplied fuel to companies included in the EU sanctions list at the time of our business dealings with them.”
Last year, public-service broadcaster DR reported that Dan-Bunkering was involved in the deliveries of at least 30,000 tonnes of jet fuel to Syria for the use of Russian military.
Danish tycoon Torben Ostergaard-Nielsen, who owns Bunker Holding, told local media at that time he received death threats over the news and had to hire security personnel at his house.
SOIK eventually pressed preliminary charges against Dan-Bunkering, Bunker Holding and its chief executive Keld Demant, and an unnamed group director for violating EU sanctions in September 2019.
“We have readily answered all questions from the authorities, including the Danish Business Authority’s initial inquiry on the matter,” the joint statement said. “However, we have not been able to enter into a proper dialogue with the authorities.
“Among other things, we would have liked to discuss the fact that no authorities at the time of the trades or afterwards have raised any red flags or provided any response to the trades in question.”
Annual sales of Bunker Holding’s subsidiaries amount to 30m tonnes per year, making the Middelfart-based group one of the world’s largest bunker suppliers.
