Ship carrying Russian oligarch’s fertilizers detained in Finland – media

According to local publication Yle, a cargo ship loaded with fertilizers belonging to a Russian oligarch on the EU sanctions list was detained in the Finnish port of Kotka on Wednesday (March 22nd).

The Russian dry cargo ship Smew was stopped at the port due to sanctions. Now information is being generated about whether the cargo will be temporarily detained or whether it will receive permission to leave the country.

“This is the first time EU sanctions have stopped cargo at a port in Finland,” said Kimmo Nasky, CEO of the port of Hamina-Kotka.

It is known that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, which is investigating this issue, received information about fertilizer shipments last week.

“In cooperation with the authorities, we have identified a shipment of fertilizer likely to belong to someone on the EU sanctions list on board. According to EU rules, the funds must be frozen if available.” Pia Sarivaara, head of the sanctions team at the Finnish Foreign Ministry, said.

At the same time, it has not been officially announced which oligarch is in question.

Also, according to Sarivaara, the ship is likely to continue on its way after the investigation. He explained that if it is understood that he is going to a third country to provide food production, the cargo will be dropped.

According to preliminary data, the amount of batch fertilizer stopped at the port is estimated to be around 20 thousand tons and around 10-12 million euros.

Previously Focus He wrote that in early March, a Russian cargo ship with military equipment left the Syrian port of Tartus, which was probably sent to the Russian Navy military base in Novorossiysk.

In February, it was learned that an unidentified tanker was seen in the occupied port of Kerch, which allegedly left Turkey and had hidden its name and identification number.