When there was the report of the large oil sale to Nigeria from Maltese territory, it was obvious that in Malta there was a large oil trader that had the capacity to trade massive volumes of oil in a short space of time. I also had the lingering suspicion that Malta was facilitating the Russian shadow fleet due to many highly irregular movements of Maltese registered ships in the Black Sea and the heightened activity in Hurd’s Bank. Then I could not prove these claims.
Then we started our investigation and our eyes immediately landed on Malta’s largest and single-handedly the biggest oil trader in Malta. No one else in Malta could mount such a massive oil trading operation. It had to be Alkagesta.
When our investigation progressed, the UK and the EU authorities caught up with them and started investigating them. Since then Alkagesta didn’t brother with right of replies. More stories kept coming out from the foreign press.
Malta is basically home to a trading arm built by individuals that came out straight from SOCAR who are directly dealing with Russian oil via its Shadow Fleet and they are bunkering this oil in Malta under fake certificates of origin, namely Turkey and Kazakhistan. There is also a high probability that Chinese oil imported to Malta to sold to third-parties at Hurd’s Bank is originally a Russian product.
Today, we can say this with confidence due to the extensive evidence, that Malta’s very big oil trader which is dabbling in Russian oil is Alkagesta.
Alkagesta made around โฌ40 million in profit over โฌ42 million in revenue in 2022 according to its accounts but it says it has up to โฌ202 million in assets with an oil stock valued of up to โฌ100 million. The choice of its banker is Europe’s last and only bank that still openly conducts business in Russia: the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank. It still needs to publish its accounts for 2023 and 2024 and I suppose that there are obvious reasons for the delay. Alkagesta needs Russian-speaking employees for its operations.
On the other hand, their voluminous cargo trading in Maltaย may actually indicate even higher revenues and profits.
Alkagesta didn’t come out from nowhere, and in fact, a whistleblower who seems to be well familiar with the company has presented extensive evidence of the company’s links with SOCAR. It’s location in Malta is ideal for its access to Libyan oil and illegal offshore oil trading via Hurd’s Bank. It uses the Birลผebbuฤกia’s bunkering facilities and has great tax advantages by being domiciled in Malta. Malta is a perfect hub for the illegal oil trading in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Maltese authorities are unfazed and unbothered. The Maltese press still doesn’t get it, and some have even referred to foreign press outlets that refer back to us. The subject is a bit complex but everything is now falling in place. Malta is living up to its historical role as a centre for contraband in times of war in Europe – this is not news.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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