WSJ announced the sale of nine Sovcomflot tankers due to sanctions

The Russian company Sovcomflot sold nine tankers to companies from the United Arab Emirates and Singapore to pay off debts to Western banks, writes WSJ. After February 24, sanctions against the company were imposed by the United States, EU and UK

Sovcomflot has sold about a dozen vessels to buyers in Asia and the Middle East as the company needs funds to repay its loans to Western banks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

Sovcomflot, one of the world's largest tanker operators, has sold five tankers to Koban Shipping in Dubai and four LNG carriers to Singapore's Eastern Pacific Shipping, according to the sources. Eastern Pacific paid $700 million to a bank to which the Russian company had debts, WSJ points out. Sovcomflot is also negotiating the sale of ships with other companies, including CHINA Merchants Group Ltd, the newspaper's interlocutors say.

RBC sent a request to Sovcomflot.

In early May, the British edition of Lloyd's List, citing a senior industry source and four representatives of the financial and legal spheres, reported that Sovcomflot plans to sell up to a third of its fleet in order to repay loans from Western banks under sanctions. The publication wrote about plans to sell 40 of the 121 ships in the company's fleet, and also noted that it had confirmation of the sale of eight Sovcomflot ships, four of which were transferred to Dubai-based Koban Shipping. According to a company statement dated February 4, Sovcomflot at that time owned 133 vessels with a total deadweight of more than 11.6 million tons.

On May 6, Sovcomflot announced that it plans to sell part of its vessels. However, according to the company's press secretary Anna Dubik, it is supposed to sell "age tonnage", as well as vessels, the operation of which "does not seem appropriate due to the restrictions imposed on the Russian merchant fleet." Reports from the British edition of Lloyd's List about the company's plans to sell a third of its vessels due to sanctions, Dubik called exaggerated.

Sanctioned Sovcomflot announced the sale of part of the fleet Business

After the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Sovcomflot came under sanctions from the European Union, the United States and Great Britain. On April 25, the company reported that due to the imposed restrictions, it could not pay the coupon on Eurobonds on time. The company said it had applied for separate licenses for transactions that were made impossible by the sanctions.

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According to the company's financial statements, as of December 31, 2021, the company's total debt was approximately $2.4 billion, and equity and cash equivalents were $0.6 billion.