Venezuelan shipowner and trader Wilmer Ruperti has broken a long silence to pledge his support for his country as he brings in petrol to help it through a fuel crisis.
In his first interview for a number of years, he told the Associated Press newswire he would do whatever it takes to prevent the situation worsening.
Ruperti's Maroil Trading he has been buying fuel and shipping it in to the country in recent weeks.
He confirmed the first 300,000 barrels arrived last week and another 1m barrels are on the way.
A Greek tanker was reported to have arrived with 150,000 barrels from the Caribbean, while Maroil had been linked to a cargo of 250,000 barrels acquired in the Middle East.
The amounts imported so far are still only enough to meet demand for a few days, however.
Interviewed in his hilltop mansion above the capital, Caracas, he denied he was helping keep President Nicolas Maduro in power and said the US is aware of the "humanitarian work".
He wants to bring in larger amounts if allowed, he added.
"This isn't about my business. It's about helping the Venezuelan people, who are suffering the consequences of a number of political actions," he said.
"Maduro is Venezuela's president, there can be no doubt about that."
On the side of the 'common folk'
He said the situation goes beyond the president.
"At the end of the day you’re helping the Venezuelan people, common folk who go to work everyday and rely on transport to get to their jobs, a doctor or for the distribution of food," Ruperti told the AP.
The 60-year-old has not revealed where he is buying the oil, but said some funds had come from state oil company PDVSA.
To avoid US sanctions against the regime, Panama-registered Maroil opened a bank account in Russia.
Speaking from his "situation room" featuring monitors showing news, market data and shipping traffic worldwide, he said his lawyers notified the US Treasury Department last month about his plans and received no objections.
"I am 100% sure that I am doing this legally and that I am complying with the rules and obligations," he added.
Hard work is key
The former tanker captain is the son of a cook who migrated to Venezuela from Italy in the 1950s, and he believes hard work can help the country.
"We have to get to work," said Ruperti. "We have to try and marginalise the politicians and work every day a minimum 12 hours to sort out the situation."
Maroil Trading had billed state-owned oil company PDVSA last month for €12m ($13m) for the purchase of up to 250,000 barrels of 95-octane petrol, according to an invoice seen by AP.
In 2002, Ruperti chartered Russian tankers to import petrol during a strike at PDVSA.
But these deals resulted in a fraud judgment against him in the UK in 2012, after Sovcomflot's Novoship subsidiary brought legal action.
Ruperti's Suramericana de Transportes de Petroleo owns a fleet of tankers and other vessels.
Novoship won a $59.2m High Court judgment against Ruperti in 2012, but struck a deal the next year that reduced the amount to $40m. As part of that agreement, Ruperti agreed to testify against private Russian shipowner Yuri Nikitin and former Novoship general manager Vladimir Mikhaylyuk in Novoship's fraud case against them.
