How to make a basketball mix

"Find out who actually continues to do business with Russian oil," an official from the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who wished to remain anonymous, asked Postimees. Entrepreneurs sharply condemned the employees of the department for publishing the data of 28 companies that reported contracts concluded before June 4 for the purchase or resale of Russian oil products. The corresponding requirement accompanied the package of sanctions of the European Union adopted on June 3.

Since officials were not allowed to disclose information about who, in what quantities and what kind of oil products actually buys from Russia, this caused outrage among businessmen.

Journalists began to dissect this list too hard. The published text could be understood as if a particular company was importing diesel or gasoline from Russia, pumping it directly into the tanks of gas stations or ships. Delfi Ärileht had to make excuses: "One of the most valuable companies in Estonia, Tallink, did not buy a drop of fuel from Russia during the war, and the fuel company Alexela does not sell fuel from the aggressor country at its filling stations." But, as always, the devil is in the details.

The Ministry did not apologize for publishing the list. According to data from Russian customs declarations obtained by Postimees, there was no reason for this. It also turned out that some businessmen, zealously demanding an apology, kindly provide their terminals for mixing oil products. If everything is done correctly, then at the output you can get gasoline and diesel "European production", or the so-called Estonian mixture.

Fuel companies wanted to dispel doubts

In order to dispel doubts about the entry of Russian fuel into the Estonian market, or rather into gas stations, the Estonian Fuel Union, which unites Estonian fuel sellers, was the first to demand that the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs publish the so-called oil list.

At first the officials resisted, but the journalists also joined the request to make the list public. Civil servants were hinted that the last straw in the cup of patience was the column of Postimees editor-in-chief Priit Hõbemägi, published on 29August ("Which of the fuel sellers is still sitting on the Russian oil needle?").

The head of the Fuel Union, Mart Raamat, who looked through the list, did not find any members of the union, that is, the operators of the Estonian petrol station networks. According to him, it was just a balm for the soul of the head of the organization.

However, the list includes Alexela Logistics AS and Alexela Bunkering AS, which belong to the Alexela Group.

Miracles of rhetoric from Alexela

The damage caused Alexela to demand an apology from the ministry.

To get to the bottom of the truth, you need to read every word of the press release of Hans Pajom, member of the board of the concern and CEO, many times. This is a real masterpiece of literature.

The first thing that was emphasized was that Alexela Logistics, now under the new name of Nord Terminals, belongs to the international concern Puma Energy and serves as a terminal operator, providing customs declarant and warehousing services to goods owners. At the same time, Nord Terminals itself does not sell oil products.

According to Payom, after February 24, not a single ton of motor gasoline, diesel fuel and other types of fuel of Russian origin was declared and brought for free circulation on the Estonian market through Nord Terminals.

Nord Terminals has not applied and does not plan to apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the exclusive right to continue importing Russian oil products. "Nord Terminals complies with all Estonian laws and complies with international sanctions, but the company has no Russian clients," Payoma stressed.

According to Aarto Eipre, Member of the Management Board of Nord Terminals, the contracts concluded before the start of the war for the processing of oil products of Russian origin, which can be executed until February 5, 2023, were handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, the company does not import goods of Russian origin to the Estonian domestic market. Such goods pass through Estonia in transit.

This is a carefully crafted combination of sentences, each of which, when read literally, does not contain lies. But they create a thick veil that hides the connection of Alexela's large owners with Russian oil.

Surprises of customs declarations

To sum up the words of Alexela, due to the name change, Nord Terminals, which positions itself as "new", does not purchase oil products directly from Russia. However, the company has agreements with other legal entities that purchase them, use Nord Terminals' "warehouse services" and then resell them.

Indeed, in the name of the company Nord Terminals, a third of which belongs to the owners of Alexela, according to the customs declarations that fell into the hands of Postimees, at least in July (later data is not yet available) no oil products were received from Russia. Despite the name change, Rosneft continued to send them to Alexela Logistics.

The imported goods are not finished fuel or oil products, which can only be imported as an exception (true again!): if you look at the Estonian customs code, from May to July, Alexela Logistics imported "fuel oil" from Russia, and Looking at the customs declaration description, coal tar distillates are an oily substance that is added to asphalt, and when diluted with lighter hydrocarbons, it can turn into fuel for rough engines, such as a ship's engine.

In June, Alexela Logistics also imported a "fuel-like product": petroleum distillate "for other purposes" from which fuel can be produced. There is no information yet on whether deliveries from Russia continued in August and September.

Who was affected by EU regulation

Alexela's executives were also unhappy that Alexela Bunkering was included in the list. "Since February 24, Alexela Bunkering has not concluded a single deal with the Russian side for the purchase of marine fuel necessary for its core business," Alexela Payoma, member of the board and CEO of the concern, assured.

Companies associated with Alexela declared contracts related to Russian oil because the EU sanctions regulation concerned the transportation of Russian oil, its processing, storage and brokering, and not just direct purchases from Russia.

The state-owned company Operail, which was also worried about being on the oil list (because it only transports oil products from Russia, and does not buy and sell them), confirmed that it still delivers Russian oil products from the Narva border checkpoint to Estonian enterprises. "We are not involved in the decision-making process about which goods to import to Estonia," said Madiken Oja, head of communication at Operail. “Back in April, the government decided that it was impossible to conduct oil business with Russia, but, unfortunately, it was never able to enforce its decision. Operail got out, referring to the implementation of agreements,” commented Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu (Fatherland Party) ).

The Tax and Customs Board (NTD) stressed that the list did not include businesses not related to Russian goods. "Those who produce grain in Viljandi County and sell it to Rõngu Pagar do not have to declare anything with us or at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Eerik Heldna, head of the NTD's customs department.

Solid profits Alexela Bunkering

Upon learning of this, Alexela was forced to clarify that Alexela Bunkering still has contracts regarding Russian oil, but they are concluded not with the "Russian side", but with residents of Estonia or other EU member states.

Postimees does not yet have information about what the company bought from February to April, but according to customs declarations, Alexela Bunkering has been buying marine fuel in Russia steadily and in large quantities at least until the end of January. But in May it's gone. At the same time, the turnover of the company from March to May amounted to 76 million euros, and the average gross salary of three employees was about 5,800 euros.

A person who is aware of the price of marine fuel told Postimees that it is theoretically possible, for example, to buy marine fuel from the Neste or Orlen plant and bunker it, but a ton of such fuel will cost at least 100 euros more than Russian fuel. "And after the mobilization announced by Putin, this difference probably became even greater," the source suggested. It is hard to imagine that in the Gulf of Finland anyone other than companies directly related to Neste could compete with Russian marine fuel.

However, customs officials assured that at present no Estonian company buys ready-made gasoline and diesel fuel for land and water vehicles in Russia.

What Alexela Bunkering is currently buying and selling is unknown. He probably buys "fuel-like products" from someone and produces an "Estonian mixture" in Nord Terminals tanks, 49 percent consisting of Russian oil products, and 51 percent, say, Orlen oil products.

In a legal sense, such fuel is converted into European fuel, and the public can be told that no one is selling Russian fuel. At the same time, on its website, Nord Terminals openly advertises a petrochemical tank "with a built-in agitator", which holds 28,000 cubic meters of oil products. The large owner of the Alexela Group, Heiti Häel, categorically denies the production of "Estonian blend" at Nord Terminals (see interview below).

Only Nord Terminals has permission

“Currently, this is a legal activity. For this, the NTD issues all the necessary permits to the company,” commented Külli Kurvits, head of the NTD customs formalities area. “This is a processing operation (a separate customs procedure), which is the basis for determining non-preferential origin ( that is, common, not secured by customs privileges - Ed. ), because mixing different goods does not in itself give a non-preferential origin. In addition to the operation itself, the share of goods from a third country in the final product (less than 50 percent) is important. According to Kurvits, the permits in the customs area concern only one company - Nord Terminals - because of their blending service.

Having analyzed data from declarations of Alexela Logistics about imported products, Kurvits said that they can be used when mixing different types of fuel. "Here are some examples of what products are allowed to be used when mixing fuel: 2706, 2713, 2902, 2905, 2909, 3811, 3814, 3826, 3904 and so on," she read. Several other companies offer blending services for oil products, but they do not have permission to produce an "Estonian blend".

The Executive Director of the Fuel Union, Mart Raamat, said that, based on export figures, it seems that the fuel is being exported, mainly as marine fuel, and expressed his conviction that fuel produced from Russian oil is supplied to Estonian gas stations. , misses.

“Looking at the foreign trade statistics, it is very interesting to observe the large export volumes of ‘Estonian’ oil products, given that our country has no capacity to produce fuel,” Raamat said. “I don’t know what happens to them in the terminal, as a result of which they are painted in the colors of the Estonian flag." And when he heard that it could be the production of an "Estonian mixture", Raamat said: "Now this is absolutely unethical!"

Spineless Estonian politicians are unable to stop the oil shaft

"Russia's embargo! Total embargo!" exclaims Eerik Heldna (pictured), head of the customs department of the Tax and Customs Department, excitedly, referring to the European Union's sanctions softness. Millions of tons of Russian oil continue to flow through Estonia, and part of this flow settles and here. – We feed the aggressor every day!”.

The head of customs, a former police officer, is alarmed by the news that more than half of the oil and gas revenues of the aggressor state are received from the European Union. According to the Postimees newspaper on September 6, 2022, in the first six months of the war in Ukraine, Russia earned 158 billion euros from the export of fossil fuels.

"Are the fuel and energy sanctions fully working? Unfortunately not!" Heldna says indignantly. stand firmly on our own: yes, we will freeze, yes, some of our enterprises will go bankrupt, yes, our economy will suffer - we have taken all this into account, but we will go to the end. ".

"Whatever moral difficulties we may have, when the transition period comes, certain measures are, unfortunately, acceptable," adds Heldna.

He believes that Estonia itself could restrict the import of oil, as it did a year ago, banning the import of the legendary flavored oil 2707 from Belarus. Then little Estonia formed the sanctions policy of the entire European Union. It was one of the few decisive actions when Estonia unilaterally introduced a domestic sanction. It turns out that it was possible! And then the whole European Commission joined in.

Mart Raamat, Executive Director of the Fuel Union, also criticizes the current situation: “Unexpectedly, the state, without agreement with the EU, stopped gas supplies from Russia. It was a right step, but why didn’t the same ban apply to oil products? through Estonia, the state suddenly referred to the general sanctions expected from the European Union. Why are some fuels awaiting general approval, while others can be banned unilaterally?

The current uncertainty about Russian oil is also worrying for the Estonian Fuel Union. Some of the enterprises included in it, for ethical reasons, have ceased all ties with Russia, while others, on the contrary, are shearing profits at the expense of the former.

But the state could easily stop the rail transit of oil. For this, one order is enough for the state-owned company Eesti Raudtee and another state-owned enterprise, Operail, which also transports oil from the border crossing point in Narva.

Majority owner of Alexela about the production of "Estonian mixture"

Majority owner of Alexela Heiti Häel claims that the business of related companies transporting Russian oil products and gas is full transit abroad, which is still permitted by law.

- I remember Eesti Päevaleht wrote nasty things about you importing fuel from Russia.

– What kind of nasty things are these? They just got it wrong.

- You claim that your company has not traded fuel from Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

- We claimed that we did not conclude new treaties after the war began.

- That is, the import of fuel continues under the old contracts?

– We have not imported anything to Estonia under the old contracts either.

– Are you talking about automotive and marine fuels and gas?

- This is also about fuel oil. We are talking about transit activities through the Sillamäe and Paldiski terminals. And this transit has no connection with the Estonian market.

– But transit activities continue?

– Of course, transit activities continue, because the contracts were concluded for this year before the outbreak of the war and are in full force until the end of this year. These actions do not fall under EU sanctions against Russia.

– But you claim that from the transported through the ports of Sillamäe and Paldiski to the Estonian market...

– ... not a single ton was imported.

– LPG gas at Alexela gas stations is very cheap. Isn't that gas?

- This gas is from Kazakhstan.

- It turns out that your enterprises are importing Russian gas, but you say that all this goes further through Estonia.

- Customs statistics in this respect, so to speak, are a bit biased. There are different processes in customs statistics. If goods from a third world country enter customs warehouses in the EU, they show that the goods were supposedly imported into the EU. This is the case. But when the goods leave the warehouse, it turns out that this is, as it were, an export and, in fact, this goods did not enter free circulation here, in this country. And it's not taxed here.

– Where does the goods go from the bunkers in Sillamäe and Paldiski?

- Usually not in Europe.

– But can he still go to Finland or Latvia?

- I would dare to rule out such an option. I can't talk much about the movement of my clients' goods, but I completely exclude Finland and Latvia. Most of the ship's paperwork is in fact arranged in such a way that, although the ship is sailing for Amsterdam or Rotterdam, its ultimate destination is largely unknown to us.

- Therefore, as I understand it, the ship can actually just turn back to Estonia.

- I would almost dare to rule this out. Theoretically, according to the documents, of course, it cannot. But in practical life, I have not seen this.

– Is the liquefied gas imported from Russia going further?

– Yes, they send him further from Paldiski.

– Where does the car fuel at your gas stations in Estonia come from?

- From the Orlen factory in the Lithuanian city of Mazeikiai. It has been coming from there for 10-15 years.

– Where does Orlen buy its raw materials?

- I can't answer this question. Publicly they say that they don't buy in Russia anymore. But these are Internet sources, so I can’t say anything specifically.

- What is "Estonian blend", is it produced by Nord Terminals?

– Estonian mix? What is "Estonian Blend"?

- We have heard claims that "Estonian blend" is a mixture of fuel from Russia with EU-certified fuel. That is, he has an Estonian certificate.

- No! Not! Not! never ever. This is the first time I hear something like this. I read about the Latvian blend, but this is the first time I hear about the "Estonian blend".

- You have a long list of goods being transported. When they pass through your terminal, what is written in their certificate?

- The country of origin is written. With the Estonian certificate, only shale oil leaves the terminal. This, I think, is all.

- But doesn't it happen that you mix, and as a result...

– No, no! No no!

– Where did the misunderstanding happen?

- I can't tell. Change the origin ( origin - Ed.) - forget it, in times of sanctions it is criminal.

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Russian figure skaters were poisoned at the World Championships. The main suspects are rivals from the USA

The Soviet duo of Pakhomova and Gorshkov faced the most difficult difficulties at the tournament 1972 years old.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy

The legendary Soviet figure skaters Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov forever inscribed their names in the history of world sports. They not only won dozens of gold medals at the world's major championships, but also had a key influence on the inclusion of ice dancing in the program of the Olympic Games. However, the path of famous skaters to victories was thorny.

The great successes and glory of the Soviet couple caused not only admiration and recognition, but also terrible envy. At 19In 1972, at the World Championships in Calgary, our athletes were poisoned right before the key skates.

However, this did not break the spirit of the skaters.

By 1972, Pakhomova and Gorshkov were already two-time world champions, having received the status of innovators in their sport: they changed the very style of ice dancing. Before the start of the next championship of the planet, Soviet athletes were considered the unconditional favorites of the competition. Such an arrangement, apparently, did not suit everyone. Having skated the compulsory part of the tournament and taken the lead, Alexander and Lyudmila began preparing for the free dance, but the main difficulty, it turned out, was not waiting for them on the ice.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Yuri Somov

Before the start of the program, the skaters, along with other participants in the World Championships, went to dinner at a restaurant at the hotel. Within a few hours, Pakhomova and Gorshkov felt a terrible malaise: both athletes had a fever and began to vomit. Doctors diagnosed the skaters with severe poisoning.

Later it became known that during lunch, two more athletes sat down with Gorshkov and Pakhomova, while none of the skaters who were having lunch at the restaurant at the same time complained of any unpleasant symptoms. It is not surprising that the version of the deliberate poisoning of Soviet athletes immediately became the main one.

- This is a dark story. We went for a walk, then returned for lunch to the hotel where all the championship participants lived. We ordered different dishes, and Mila pecked quite a bit. They lay down to take a nap and woke up at the same time from the same sensations - both turned inside out. There is an assumption that one of the competitors tried to poison us. This idea is prompted by the fact that Mila and I ate different dishes, - said Alexander Gorshkov in an interview with Moscow Region Today.

If Soviet athletes refused to go on the ice, no one would have any complaints against them. A few hours before the start of the free program, Gorshkov and Pakhomova could hardly stand on their feet, but they decided to perform anyway: the skaters took to the ice and perfectly skated their dance, eventually winning gold medals at the World Championships.

The story of the poisoning was never revealed. Against the background of many versions about the possible meanness of the direct competitors of the Soviet figure skaters, there were even assumptions about political overtones. Americans Judy Schwomeyer and James Sladky won the World Cup-1972 bronze medals, while Sladky was an ethnic Czech who persuaded his partner after the events in Prague in 1968 to put the Czech dance in the World Cup program. The Cold War and the Prague Spring are an explosive political mixture that immediately made many athletes and coaches think about possible criminal actions on the part of Schwomeyer and Sladka.

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