United States
Ex-oil trader for Moscow Niels Troost hires his defence team with diplomatic passport in hand

The Corporate Intelligence Gazette
Topaz Group, Legion of Honour in Hanoi, Troost vs Srivastava

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community.

ParisAmarante International's Arnaud Dessenne joins Heracles

HanoiFrench honour for Openasia boss

New YorkPrivate investigators facing exposure in Russian oil traders' battle

United States
Liberia calls on discreet Seychelles trust to lobby in the US

Monrovia's latest effort to establish communications with US politicians and diplomats is taking place outside the normal diplomatic channels.

Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine
Swiss traders bet both ways on Russian and Ukrainian cereals exports

Intelligence Online has seen numerous import-export dockets for cereals from Russia and Ukraine. Big and small traders in Switzerland are highlighting the business they do for Ukraine but trading more discreetly in Russian cereals at the same time.

Spotlight | China, Russia, Switzerland
Russia's new oil routes: the mysterious traders filling the gap

A handful of small firms stepped in after big Swiss traders pulled out of the sanctioned Russian oil export market. Targeted by regulators themselves, they have been replaced by even more opaque entities. Intelligence Online takes a closer look at this third wave, which enables Moscow to export not just to Asia, but also to Europe.

United States
In trouble over Russian links, oil trader Niels Troost hires ex-Biden aide to fend off sanctions

Troost has hired Ankit Desai to advance his case in Washington, after being sanctioned by the UK.

Moldova, Russia, United States
Businessman Aleksandr Okulov charged with helping Moscow evade sanctions wants to convince Washington of his innocence

The Moldovan-Russian businessman the US government claims is close to the oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, founder of far-right movements across Europe, plans to enlist a lawyer who backs "Russian pro-democracy activists" and worked at the US Embassy in Moscow.

Spotlight | United States
FBI alerted of Russian oil trader Niels Troost's secret US business interests

Troost has largely gone underground since being named in news reports as a key energy broker for Russia. He denies charges of sanctions busting or any illegal activities, but recently cancelled a trip to New York, according to a source.

Russia
Russia focuses on increasingly strategic Arctic

The Kremlin is determined that sanctions will not affect business in the Arctic. With official encouragement, Russian business leaders are changing the map of the region in the wake of an exodus by Western companies.