{"id":2572,"date":"2017-11-05T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-05T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armando.info\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2017-11-05T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T12:00:00","slug":"trumps-secretary-of-commerce-does-business-with-maduros-oil-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/trumps-secretary-of-commerce-does-business-with-maduros-oil-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump's Secretary of Commerce does Business with Maduro's Oil Company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Despite \r\nthe recent sanctions imposed by the government of President Donald Trump on top \r\nofficials of the Venezuelan regime, and having prohibited the financial sector \r\ntransactions with Venezuelan State bonds, the US Secretary of Commerce \r\n(minister), Wilbur L. Ross Jr. has a stake in a shipping company that receives \r\nmillions of dollars a year in profits for providing coastal trade service to the \r\nstate oil company Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela (Pdvsa).<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n

Ross, \r\na millionaire private equity investor, sold most of his company's assets before \r\njoining President Donald Trump's cabinet in February, but held a stake in the \r\nshipping company Navigator Holdings Ltd., established in the Marshall Islands in \r\nthe South Pacific. The offshore entities in which Ross and other investors hold \r\na financial stake controlled 31.5% of the company in \r\n2016.<\/p>\n\n\n

According \r\nto the annual report of the company filed with the Securities and Exchange \r\nCommission (SEC), Pdvsa is not exactly a minor client of Navigator, as it \r\ncontributed 10.7 percent of its revenue in the fiscal year of 2014, and another \r\n11.7 percent in 2015. This is a net payment of 33.7 and 36.9 million dollars, \r\nrespectively, which the company received after chartering three of its 29 \r\ntankers for the transport of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in those \r\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n

Washington's \r\nban on US banks from participating in any type of financing to the Venezuelan \r\ngovernment, including Pdvsa, does not directly affect Navigator's business with \r\nVenezuela, as the sanctions still do not order the suspension of all types of \r\ncommercial relationships with the self-styled Bolivarian Revolution. However, in \r\nits annual report, the company recognizes that \"the geopolitical risks \r\nassociated with chartering vessels to Indonesian and Venezuelan state \r\ncorporations are significant and may have a negative impact on our business, our \r\nfinancial condition and operating results.\"<\/p>\n\n\n

\"If a contractual dispute arises, it would be difficult for us to assert our rights against Pdvsa\"<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n

These \r\nrisks include the possibility of expropriation or nationalization of properties, \r\nthe difficulties to defend their assets before the courts of the country and \r\ndifficulties to maintain the level of profits due to elements like exchange \r\ncontrol, strikes, sudden changes in laws, insurrections and even wars. \" If a \r\ncontractual dispute arises, it would be difficult for us to assert our rights \r\nagainst Pdvsa (...) We cannot predict how government policies can change now or \r\nin the future under the administration of Venezuela or Indonesia (...) We depend \r\nlargely on third parties to offer technical service to our \r\nfleet.\"<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n

Despite \r\nthese warnings, until April of this year, Navigator offered shipping services to \r\nPDVSA with at least two of its tankers, Navigator Taurus and Navigator Virgo, \r\nwhich usually cover routes between Venezuela and the Caribbean \r\nislands.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

Another Awkward Partner<\/h2>\n\n\n

If \r\nsomething distinguishes Ross's good head for business, it is precisely his \r\ninclination to risk, including politics, since another of Navigator's main \r\nclients, with a contribution of more than 68 million dollars in revenues since \r\n2014, is the gas and petrochemical company Sibur, based in \r\nMoscow.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n

Two \r\nof its main owners are Kirill Shamalov, who is married to the youngest daughter \r\nof Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Gennady Timchenko, the sanctioned \r\noligarch whose activities in the energy sector were \"directly linked to Putin,\" \r\naccording to the Department of the Treasury. Another powerful owner is Sibur's \r\nlargest shareholder, Leonid Mikhelson, who controls an energy company that was \r\nalso sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury for supporting Putin's \r\ngovernment.<\/p>\n\n