US Treasury Slams Global Oil Trader Gunvor as “The Kremlin’s Puppet” in Blocked Lukoil Deal

US President Donald Trump sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil in October 2025, barring them from conducting transactions in US dollars. Lukoil, a private company with significant overseas holdings, quickly announced its intention to find a buyer for those assets. While the company was valued at €19 billion in 2023, the actual sale price was likely 50–70% lower. Lukoil’s global footprint includes:

• Oil exploration and production in 11 countries across Asia and Africa

• Refineries in Romania and Bulgaria

• A 45% stake in a Dutch refinery

• A network of 5,300 gas stations in 19 countries

• Production facilities in Austria, Romania, Belarus, and Finland

• Wind farms in Romania

• Solar farms in Austria, Bulgaria, and Romania

• A 12.5% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a critical export route

Gunvor—often grouped with Trafigura, Glencore, and Vitol as part of the oil trading “Big Four”—quickly emerged as a buyer. In 2024, the company reported $136 billion in revenue.

However, in early November, the US Treasury explicitly blocked the deal, calling Gunvor “the Kremlin’s puppet.” So why does Washington take this view?

Why is Gunvor linked to the Kremlin?

Gunvor has Russian roots. It was founded in 1997 by Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Vladimir Putin. Both are originally from St. Petersburg. Timchenko’s partner was Torbjörn Törnqvist, a European who grew up in Stockholm and began his career at BP (British Petroleum). Official company records list only these two as co-founders, but in reality, a third shareholder was involved—another Putin associate, Pyotr Kolbin, who sold his stake in 2010.

From the very beginning, Gunvor played a major role in exporting Russian oil globally. In the 2000s, roughly 70% of the company’s business involved Russian crude, and it was responsible for one-third of the country’s seaborne oil exports.

On paper, Timchenko exited the business in 2014 after Russia attempted to annex Crimea and launched its war in Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions. While the financial terms were never officially disclosed, experts estimate his 43.5% stake could have been worth around $1.5 billion. A year later, Gunvor paid $1 billion in dividends to Törnqvist, likely to settle with his former partner.

Since then, Gunvor has worked to portray itself as having severed ties with Russia—a claim that remains under intense scrutiny. As early as 2014, the US Treasury highlighted Timchenko’s close ties to Putin in the energy sector. In 2023, Gunvor stated it no longer traded Russian oil, but investigative outlet The Bell reported that trade had simply scaled down, not stopped entirely.

Törnqvist’s personal ties also raise eyebrows. His wife is Russian, and the couple owns a mansion in Rublyovka—a luxury district outside Moscow. Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that their neighbors include high-ranking Russian military and energy officials: General Sergey Surovikin, former commander of Russia’s united forces in Ukraine; Anatoly Nuraev of Russian oil and gas company Surgutneftegaz; and Vyacheslav Mikhaylenko of Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

Törnqvist regularly visits Russia with his wife, though the nature of these trips remains undisclosed. He is also reported to own an estate near Lake Geneva—next door to none other than Gennady Timchenko.

Gunvor claims to have no physical assets in Russia, except for a terminal in Ust-Luga. However, records show it still operates two legal entities in the country, generating combined revenues of 4.3 billion rubles (about $43 million).

Gunvor has since confirmed it is pulling out of the Lukoil deal and denounced the US Treasury’s statements as “based on inaccurate information.”

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