COPENHAGEN, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Danish fuel supplier Bunker Holding, its chief executive and a subsidiary of the company were convicted by Odense city court on Tuesday for breaching international sanctions by selling jet fuel to war-torn Syria, court documents showed.
Bunker Holding, a fuel trader that is also one of the world’s largest shipping fuel suppliers, together with its CEO and subsidiary Dan-Bunkering had been charged with breaking sanctions imposed by the European Union at the onset of the Syrian civil war.
From its branch office in Kaliningrad, Dan-Bunkering had been behind all 33 trades, while Bunker Holding and its chief executive, Keld Rosenbaek Demant, had participated only in the last eight trades, the documents said.
The two Russian companies, acting as agents for the Russian navy, subsequently delivered the jet fuel to the Syrian port Banias, to be used by Russian air force in Syria for military operations, the court said.
The defence lawyer for Bunker Holding, Henrik Sanders, told Reuters the convicted parties will ask for time to consider the verdict and to decide whether to appeal.
CEO Demant was not available for comment while a spokesperson for Bunker Holding said the company planned to issue a statement later on Tuesday.
Dan-Bunkering was fined 30 million Danish crowns, roughly equivalent to double what was earned on the fuel trades, and had 15.65 million crowns of profit confiscated.
Bunker Holding was fined 4 million crowns and Demant was given a four-month suspended prison sentence.
