India approves more Russian insurers to provide marine cover
India is the top buyer of Russian seaborne oil after China since Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its military action in Ukraine.
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Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
Abramovich ally loses Supreme Court battle over Russian sanctions
A Russian oil tycoon has accused the UK Government of 'virtue signalling' after he failed to overturn sanctions in the Supreme Court. Eugene Shvidler, a billionaire businessman with close ties to Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea FC owner, has lashed out at policymakers over claims he was punished for 'purely political purposes'. His criticism related to a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, which upheld sanctions imposed following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Mr Shvidler, who previously served on the board of companies owned by the former Chelsea owner, claimed he was hit with sanctions purely because of his 'Russian heritage'. He singled out Grant Shapps for criticism, as he said the former defence secretary grounded his private jet to 'save face' and wrongly accused him of being one of 'Putin's cronies'. The Moscow-born oil tycoon, who now lives in the US but remains a British citizen, said: 'The Government's decision-making on who to sanction is often not about targeting those who really have supported and benefited from the Russian state, but more about cheap virtue-signalling for purely political purposes.' 'Orwellian approach' His comments come after the Supreme Court rejected Mr Shvidler's bid to repeal the sanctions on Sunday. In taking his case to Britain's highest court, Mr Schvidler claimed the sanctions imposed on him were disproportionate considering he had never had any involvement in Russian politics and had left the country in 1989. He also argued that the sanctions breached his rights under the European Convention of Human Rights, partly on the basis that he had little influence over Mr Putin's decision-making. However, the Supreme Court found against Mr Schvidler after ruling that the sanctions were justified in trying to stop the war in Ukraine. In particular, it said they could send a signal to the 'Russian elite'. The top court added that while there is 'no doubt that the measures have had a severe, open-ended and drastic effect on Mr Shvidler and his family', such harsh sanctions are needed to be effective. Yet not all of the five Supreme Court judges agreed. In a dissenting judgment, Lord Leggatt said ministers had taken an 'Orwellian approach' by freezing Mr Shvidler's assets in the hope that he would 'speak out in support of government policy'. Lord Leggatt also criticised a series of social media posts sent out by Mr Shapps in which he described Mr Schvidler as a Putin ally. 'These aspersions were all baseless,' he said.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: India buys record soyoil from China in rare move, sources say
MUMBAI, July 29 (Reuters) - Indian importers have bought a record 150,000 metric tons of soyoil from China in rare purchases, as a supply glut prompted Chinese crushers to sell at a discount to India's traditional suppliers from South America, four trade sources said. The exports to India will help Chinese crushers cut inventories that surged after the country's soybean imports hit a record peak in May, boosting processing and stockpiles while demand slowed. China is the world's biggest importer of soybean. Indian importers bought the soyoil for shipment between September and December, with sellers offering a $15 to $20 a ton discount compared with South American supplies, said the sources who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media. "Chinese soybean crushers are struggling with excessive soymeal and soyoil. To reduce inventories, they are shipping oil to India," a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trade house told Reuters. India, which mainly imports soyoil from Argentina and Brazil, began buying from China due to the price advantage, the dealer said. China is traditionally a net importer of soyoil and palm oil. Chinese crushers offered crude soyoil at around $1,140 per ton, including cost, insurance, and freight (CIF), for shipments in the December quarter, compared with $1,160 from South America, another dealer said. Lower freight costs have given China the upper hand too, as shipments from South America take more than six weeks to reach India, while those from China arrive in two to three weeks, a Mumbai-based dealer said. India meets nearly two-thirds of its vegetable oil demand through imports - by private companies - of palm oil, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as sunflower oil and soyoil from Russia and Ukraine in addition to Argentina and Brazil. In India and elsewhere, soyoil is trading at a premium over palm oil, but in China, soyoil is trading at a discount due to the supply glut, a Kuala Lumpur-based dealer said. India's annual cooking oil requirement is huge, and it could buy even more from China if offered at competitive prices, said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of the Sunvin Group, a Mumbai-based vegetable oil brokerage.
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Indian owners of three ships ask sanctions-hit Nayara Energy to release the vessels, sources say
NEW DELHI, July 29 (Reuters) - The Indian owners of three vessels chartered to Nayara Energy have asked the Russian-backed firm to end their contracts following recent European Union sanctions on the refiner, six sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. India-based Seven Islands Shipping Ltd and Great Eastern Shipping Co (GESCO) have asked Nayara to release the three clean products tankers, citing concerns over the sanctions, five of the sources said. The medium-range vessels are the Bourbon and Courage, owned and managed by Seven Islands, and GESCO's tanker Jag Pooja, sources said. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Mumbai-based Nayara, Seven Islands and GESCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lack of access to ships is hampering efforts by the Indian refiner to sell its refined-fuel stocks, which are building up. The EU sanctions package unveiled on July 18 against Russia and its energy sector have forced Nayara to reduce operations at its 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery due to storage constraints, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday. Privately held Nayara, which runs India's third-biggest refinery at the port of Vadinar in the western state of Gujarat, controls nearly 8% of the country's total refining capacity of about 5.2 million bpd. Nayara, majority-owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, exports refined products and also supplies them domestically. Nayara operates more than 6,000 fuel stations.
