Gunvor sells stake in Siberian miner to reduce Russian exposure

Gunvor, one of the world's biggest commodity traders, has sold its 30 per cent stake in Kolmar, the Siberian coal producer, as it seeks to rebalance its business away from its Russian roots.

The sale of the shareholding in Kolmar to a company controlled by Andrei Bokarev, a Russian businessman, is part of plans by Gunvor to reduce its presence in the country. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Gunvor, one of the top five oil traders, was shaken last year when the US government imposed sanctions on its Gennady Timchenko, its Russian co-founder, and alleged President Vladimir Putin was a secret investor in the company.

The Swiss-based company has strenuously denied any links to the Kremlin or Mr Putin and Mr Timchenko has sold his 43 per cent stake in Gunvor to Torbjorn Tornqvist, co-founder.

Gunvor was founded by Mr Timchenko and Mr Tornqvist, a Swedish oil trader, in 2000. It started with a focus on trading Russian oil, securing much of the supply of Rosneft and TNK-BP.

The company used its leading position in the Russian oil market - at one point it handled about a third of the country's seaborne exports - to build one of the world's largest commodities trading businesses.

"The sale is a part of Gunvor's ongoing diversification strategy to rebalance its Russian and global asset portfolio," said the company. "Since a significant portion of the company's investments are in Russia, over time Gunvor will sell selectively part of those assets."

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Gunvor is seeking buyers for all or part of Ust-Luga, one of the world's largest oil terminals. It is also looking for buyers for its 50 per cent stake in the Novorossiysk terminal on the Black Sea.

Its other Russian assets include a pipeline and an oil exploration company.

Industry insiders have said it will be difficult for Gunvor to find non-Russian buyers for its assets in the country. People close to the company said Mr Bokarev, a billionaire coal investor, was a natural buyer for the Kolmar stake.

However, the company has not abandoned Russia completely. It recently won a large tender to export oil produced by Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil company, for the first time in several years.

After years of flat markets, falling profits and declining margins, Gunvor and other big oil traders are enjoying the most favourable trading conditions since the global financial crisis in 2008.

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