On July 4, 2024, the oil tanker Torex departed from the Russian port of Ust Luga in the Baltic Sea. With a capacity of over 100,000 tons, it carries oil to an Indian port, where it is expected to arrive on August 5 after passing through the Suez Canal. Although Torex sails under the Cook Islands flag, a company based in Chisinau manages it.
Moldovan companies manage Torex along with many other tankers, contributing to Russia’s “shadow fleet” designed to circumvent international sanctions imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine. RISE Moldova has identified several Moldovan companies that play a crucial role in transporting Russian oil, with intermediaries connected to firms and organizations operated by Dorin Damir.
In the past 6-7 months, Moldovan companies, that do not employ staff in Moldova, have managed up to 2% of Russian oil transported by tankers. Most of these tankers belong to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” which included over 400 tankers in the first quarter of 2024. Among them are 12 tankers owned by Seychelles offshore companies but managed by four Moldovan firms.
Moldovan companies manage about 23 tankers, representing nearly 6% of Russia’s shadow fleet. If a company’s claim of operating a fleet of 50 tankers is accurate, it could involve around 70 tankers, indicating a substantial fleet.
The authors of the study Illuminating Russia’s Shadow Fleet, conducted by an Israeli consulting firm analyzing the “shadow fleet” phenomenon, claim that illicit traders use these tankers for sanctioned goods, employing various methods to conceal their origins. The fleet uses deceptive shipping practices, including both static and dynamic methods.
The fleet size fluctuates with new regulations especially due to Russia’s oil bans and price caps. The Israeli firm identified around 1,300 shadow fleet vessels, often taken over by newly established companies and frequently changing flags to hide their true owners and appear compliant with international sanctions.
The identified Moldovan companies have several similarities: they registered after February 24, 2022, including terms like “Ship Management” in their names, share legal addresses, and have affiliated administrators and founders. They also show identical errors in their financial statements. Identifying the ultimate beneficiary of these schemes proved more challenging.
The quantity of Russian oil and petroleum products transported by tankers operated by Moldovan companies in the first half of 2024
The first group of 4-5 companies has twin sisters Irina Oprea and Cristina Gaiduc as founders and official administrators. KSN Shipmanagement LLC was registered shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine, initially founded and managed by Alina Samson, who also appears with other tanker companies. By late May 2023, Irina Oprea, one of the twins, became the sole associate and manager. Despite a minimal social capital of 500 lei and no economic activity in 2022, the company, according to its reports, had losses of 1,000 lei in 2023 and borrowed about 22,000 lei from the founder. Although it officially employs no staff in Moldova, KSN Shipmanagement LLC appears in international reports as owning several tankers, including the New Global under the Panama flag and managing Caruzo, Raven, and Torex (formerly M.T. Karachi).
Ion Mihalev and Alina Samson are parteners that control another group of companies involved in transporting Russian oil. For example, Ludmila Romanovscaia, who owned Dagna until 2023 (now controlled by Cristina Gaiduc), is Alina Samson’s mother. Alina Samson transferred KSN Shipmanagement LLC to Irina Oprea, the other twin sister.
Alina Samson also owns MRK Shipmanagement, founded in July 2022, with a social capital of 500 lei and activities focused on “repairing and maintaining ships and boats.” Like the companies controlled by the Oprea and Gaiduc sisters, MRK Shipmanagement reported no employees or economic activity and had the same losses of 1,689 lei for 2023.
Destination countries for oil/petroleum products transported by tankers managed by Moldovan companies in the first half of 2024
One issue that needs clarification is where the oil transported by Moldovan-managed tankers ends up. Maritime traffic monitoring pages provide only partial information due to the “shadow fleet” nature. According to KSE Institute data, in the first half of 2024, Moldovan-managed tankers transported approximately 27.5 million barrels of Russian oil and petroleum products, equal to about 3.75 million tons. This amount is worth around $2.2 billion at Brent crude prices or $1.7 billion based on the $60 per barrel cap set by Western countries for Russian oil.
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Although KSE Institute experts believe that the quantities of oil and petroleum products transported by tankers managed by Moldovan companies are relatively small compared to Russia’s total hydrocarbon exports, the volumes transported by these tankers are about four times higher than Moldova’s annual petroleum product imports.