How It All Began

Niels Troost, a longtime, savvy Dutch trader of Russian oil, first sought Gaurav Srivastava out in early 2022 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presented an existential threat to his company Paramount Energy & Commodities SA. Many European entities were either closing off or distancing themselves from Russia generally - and Russian oil specifically - in anticipation of sanctions restrictions targeting the Russian oil sector. Troost’s business relationships and credit facilities were drying up, and fast. Banks were distancing themselves from him and his credit was being shut off. Troost wanted to diversity his business away from Russia and away from oil and Srivastava was able to offer him his long-standing contacts and banking relationships, diversified business opportunities in other commodities, and significant credit facilities.

The goal was to pivot away from Russian oil and build an international portfolio of non-Russian business. Troost brought a long-established history as an oil trader while Srivastava brought significant capital, credit, and extensive business contacts outside of the Russian oil sector.

In the late summer of 2022, and after extensive planning with Troost about the future of his business, Srivastava took a 50% stake in Paramount Energy & Commodities SA and Harvest Commodities SA. He purchased the shares for a nominal price of 50,000 CHF with the agreement that following a third-party audit Troost would take an ex-dividend that represented the value of the company on June 1, 2022, which was estimated to be somewhere between $200-350M. This is an important point because much of the press coverage of the business arrangement suggests that Srivastava under-paid for a company worth hundreds of millions. The reality was that Srivastava invested in a distressed asset that he sought to leverage into other sectors and geographies. It was a good business deal for both sides.