EU sanctions retired Swiss colonel and oil traders for aiding Russia

The EU has added a former Swiss army colonel to its sanctions list. According to the EU, the 70-year-old Jacques Baud spread conspiracy theories about the war in Ukraine and acted as a spokesperson for pro-Russian propaganda.

According to the EU executive order published on Monday, the “strategic analyst” is a “regular” guest on pro-Russian television and radio programs. Baud claimed, for example, that Ukraine triggered its own invasion to join NATO.

“Baud helps to undermine or threaten the stability and security of Ukraine through information manipulation and influence operations,” Brussels added. The EU Council, where the 27 member states are represented, adopted the proposal from the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Monday.

Baud, a Swiss citizen, has also been subjected to an asset freeze. In addition, EU citizens and companies are prohibited from providing him with funds, financial assets, or economic resources. He is also subject to a travel ban, prohibiting him from entering or transiting through the EU.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) in Bern announced that it was aware of the EU’s decision and thus the sanctions against Baud.

However, Seco stated to the Keystone-SDA news agency that Switzerland has not adopted the latest sanctions list. This is because Switzerland did not join the sanctions regime that the EU adopted in October of last year concerning “Russia’s hybrid threats.”

According to the statement, in addition to Baud, the EU imposed sanctions on Monday on eleven other individuals, a Russian military unit, and a propaganda group for their “destabilizing activities.” The regulation currently lists 59 individuals and 17 entities for “Russia’s destabilizing activities.”

According to a report in Reuters, the European Union has adopted new sanctions against Russian oil interests. These sanctions target traders Murtaza Lakhani and Etibar Eyyub on the grounds that they “helped Moscow circumvent Western sanctions on its crude oil exports, which help finance its war in Ukraine.”

The EU’s latest sanctions prohibit the bloc’s citizens from doing business with the listed companies and individuals, restricting their access to shipping and insurance providers.

The EU Council and the Official Journal of the European Union announced that Brussels is targeting nine individuals and organizations supporting Russia’s shadow oil tanker fleet. The statement referred to businessmen connected with oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as shipping companies that own and operate the tankers.

Canadian-Pakistani oil trader Murtaza Lakhani is the CEO of the trading company Mercantile & Maritime.

The listing in the Official Journal of the European Union states, “Through his companies, he enables the shipment and export of Russian oil, particularly from the Russian state oil company Rosneft. Murtaza Lakhani controls vessels that transport crude oil or petroleum products of Russian origin or exported from Russia.”

The 63-year-old Lakhani manages the medium-sized trading company Mercantile & Maritime Group, which has offices in Singapore and London.

Lakhani began his career at the global trading company Glencore, where he worked on Iraqi oil exports during the Saddam Hussein era, and later moved to the Kurdistan region of Iraq. There, he acted as an intermediary between the oil ministry and international companies, selling oil independently from Baghdad.

During this period, he helped the state-controlled energy giant Rosneft sign oil and gas deals in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and worked closely with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, including at signing ceremonies held at the economic forum in St. Petersburg.

Building on this relationship, Lakhani partnered with the leading oil trader Vitol to invest a 5% stake in Vostok Oil in the Arctic, Rosneft’s largest oil project in recent decades.

In an interview with the program SolovievLive at the St. Petersburg Forum in June, Lakhani said, “This country (Russia) is the world’s largest resource country. Blocking it is a very short-term effect, not a long-term goal for anyone. They will always need Russia.”

The EU also added Valeri Kildiyarov to the list, who is a director of the sanctioned Lukoil trading subsidiary Litasco Middle East DMCC and a manager at Alghaf Marine, another Lukoil trading company in Dubai.

The EU Council announced that the listing of Eyyub, along with Anar Madatli and Talat Safarov, was related to their ties with the trading company Coral Energy, which was renamed 2Rivers Group.

Coral Energy became one of Russia’s largest oil traders. 2Rivers, which was renamed after a management buyout in 2024, claimed that the company had largely ceased its Russian oil trading in 2023 and terminated its last contract at the beginning of 2024.

Following UK and EU sanctions, the company announced in June that it had ceased all trading activities before dissolving its operations in August.