Bunker Holding Subsidiary Unioil Moves on From Danish Armed Forces Supply Contract

The Danish armed forces contract has now been awarded to Stonewin. File Image / Pixabay

Bunker Holding subsidiary Unioil has decided not to bid on this year's contract to supply the Danish armed forces, according to investigative business media company InsideBusiness.

Unioil's contract with the Danish armed forces expired in September 2020, and the firm declined to bid on the next contract, worth 1.2 billion Danish kroner ($194 million), InsideBusiness reported on Thursday.

The contract has since been awarded to military supply specialist Stonewin instead.

"The contract between the Danish Defense and Unioil expired during the summer of 2020," a spokesman for Bunker Holding told Ship & Bunker by email on Friday.

"Unioil has a very good relationship with the Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization.

"However, before the expiration of the current contract, Unioil was undergoing a revision of its corporate strategy that focuses on capacity, development, infrastructure, and supply of new products.

"This has led to Unioil intentionally not bidding on several new long-term contracts.

"Unioil's decision to not pursue a new contract with the Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization was eventually made because of significant changes to the conditions of the new contract.

"This is especially due to the terms specifying where the fuel had to be delivered and from which refinery that made it less appealing from a business perspective to bid on a new 4-year contract."

The InsideBusiness story suggests that political criticism of Bunker Holding in Denmark over the alleged sanctions-breaching case against its subsidiary Dan-Bunkering may have been a factor in Unioil's decision to move on from the armed forces contract.

It is 'factually wrong' to draw this link between the decision not to bit and the court case, the Bunker Holding spokesman said.

Dan-Bunkering's case relates to 33 deals of jet fuel to Russian counterparties in 2015-2017, with the fuel ultimately ending up in Syria in breach of EU sanctions. A hearing has been scheduled for 26 October to 14 December.

Bunker Holding has previously said it has found no evidence of anyone within Bunker Holding or Dan-Bunkering having any knowledge of the alleged sanctions breaches.