OREANDA-NEWS. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, despite the US sanctions, receives money from the sale of oil with the help of a Russian company, the agency said, citing its sources.

The interlocutors of Reuters said that the Maduro administration immediately after the imposition of sanctions consulted with Russia about the possibility of circumventing the ban on the payment of dollars in oil, which the state-owned company PDVSA sells abroad. As a result, a scheme emerged in which, according to the agency, Rosneft is present.

The bottom line is that the Russian company first transfers PDVSA money for oil going abroad, without waiting for completion of deliveries. Then Rosneft receives the full amount for the delivery from the final buyer. This money is further accumulated in the accounts of the Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA in Russian banks (the article mentions Eurofinance Mosnarbank, against which in March sanctions were imposed for financing PDVSA and helping the Maduro regime). Some of them go including the payment of service charges for maritime transport, which ensures uninterrupted movement of tankers.

The agency claims that it has documents proving that it was proposed to participate in this scheme to large energy companies, among which were, for example, Indian Reliance Industries Ltd. The PDVSA internal document, which was accessed by journalists, shows that in March Reliance purchased 390,500 barrels of Venezuelan oil per day (which represents 40% of all Venezuelan supplies). PDVSA and Rosneft did not respond to requests from Reuters.

In late March, the US threatened to impose sanctions against Russia for supporting the Maduro government. “Russia will have to pay,” said Elliot Abrams, special representative of Donald Trump on Venezuela, at the time.