The oil tanker detained in Venezuela by U.S. forces on January 7, which is part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, is allegedly linked to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, according to an investigation published by Radio Free Europe. The vessel initially sailed under the flag of Guyana in the Caribbean and was later detected flying the Russian flag in Venezuela.
The tanker, renamed from Bella 1 to Marinera, received temporary permission to sail under the Russian flag on the fourth day of the pursuit, on December 24, 2025, the source notes. Ownership also changed: instead of a Turkish company under U.S. sanctions, the owner became the Russian company Burevestmarine from Ryazan.
Burevestmarine was established in July 2025 and is owned by Ilia Bugai, 39, born in the city of Chita in Russia’s Far East. He also heads Rusneftehimtorg, a Moscow-based company whose activities include fuel supply, including for oil tankers.
Among the main buyers of fuel from Rusneftehimtorg were several companies outside Russia, all owned by women residing in the Republic of Moldova. At least two of these women have been mentioned in journalistic investigations. The publication Verstka described them as “front persons” in an empire of shadow vessels used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions, allegedly controlled by former Ukrainian MP Viktor Baranski.
In 2021, structures associated with Baranski and his informal oil holding were subjected to U.S. sanctions for transporting Venezuelan oil.
In November 2020, Rusneftehimtorg, associated with Bugai, obtained a loan of 300 million rubles (about $3.7 million at the exchange rate at the time) from the Russian bank Nefteprombank. Six months later, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation began suspecting Nefteprombank of moving assets abroad and revoked its license. The bank subsequently went bankrupt, and the court-appointed liquidator began collecting loan debts.
In 2022, Rusneftehimtorg and Recimortrans were also required to repay their loans. Both received payment demands and settled their debts by March 2023. The debts were transferred to Diamand Estate, a company that in 2022 took over two television channels in the Republic of Moldova. Previously, the two stations had been owned by Igor Chaika, the son of former Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, and Vadim Ciubara, an associate of former Moldovan president Igor Dodon.
After their takeover by Diamand Estate, the two television channels became associated with Ilan Shor. He was also suspected of involvement in the withdrawal of €2.4 million from Nefteprombank, but this case ultimately ended favorably for him, the investigation states.