Info:
Ayan serves as the director and chairman of the board of the ASB Group of Companies Limited (ASB Group), a Gibraltar-registered holding company for several businesses owned or controlled by Ayan. ASB Group officials have transferred the equivalent of millions of dollars in different currencies for the IRGC-QF. As of 2017, ASB Group agreed to sell crude oil from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NIOC was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, on October 26, 2020, for its support to the IRGC-QF through the provision of Iranian oil for international commercial sales.
ASB Group of Companies Limited is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Sitki Ayan.
Ayan has used ASB Group-associated company Baslam Nakliyat Ye Dis Ticaret Ltd Sti to facilitate Iranian oil deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars and to obscure the IRGC-QF’s involvement by listing Baslam Nakliyat as the seller. Moreover, Baslam Nakliyat’s bank accounts have been used to transfer money in multiple currencies on behalf of the IRGC-QF. Baslam Nakliyat was also involved in supply-chain agreements and contracts with U.S.-designated, Russia-based RPP LLC and its representative, Mihrab Suhrab Hamidi, to purchase goods, including petroleum products. RPP LLC and Hamidi were designated as part of OFAC’s May 25, 2022 action.
Baslam Petrol Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, a separate Ayan and ASB Group-associated company, has similarly been used to facilitate the illicit sale of Iranian oil to purchasers in the People’s Republic of China.
Baslam Nakliyat Ve Dis Ticaret Ltd Sti and Baslam Petrol Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anomim Sirket are both being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Sitki Ayan.
A third Ayan and ASB Group-associated company, Anka Enerji Uretim Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, purchased Iranian petrochemicals worth more than $6 million using falsified bills of lading. IRGC-QF senior official Shahriyari and his associates coordinated the purchase and shipment of the petrochemicals.
Anka Enerji Uretim Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Sitki Ayan.
ASB Group officials established Marshall Islands-incorporated Elvegard Shipping Ltd. as a front company to facilitate the purchase of the Panamanian-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker Queen Luca for the IRGC-QF.
Elvegard Shipping Ltd. is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, ASB Group of Companies Limited. The Queen Luca is being identified as property in which Elvegard Shipping Ltd. has an interest.
Kasim Oztas, an ASB Group official and close associate of Ayan, was an interlocutor in deals brokered between Shahriyari and Ayan’s network of companies to illicitly sell millions of barrels of Iranian oil. Oztas directly handles much of Ayan’s business, including organizing the purchase of the Queen Luca through Elvegard Shipping. Oztas has also arranged the transfer of millions of dollars on behalf of the IRGC-QF.
In late 2021, Shahriyari worked closely with Oztas to facilitate an oil deal and oversaw the remittance of over one million euros from UAE-based CGN Trade FZE to Ayan’s Baslam Nakliyat in furtherance of a money laundering scheme to generate revenue for the IRGC-QF.
Kasim Oztas is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF. CGN Trade FZE is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Baslam Nakliyat Ve Dis Ticaret Ltd. Sti.
Bahaddin Ayan, Sikti Ayan’s son and an ASB Group official, directs and owns shares in at least five ASB Group-associated companies. Bahaddin Ayan is also on the board of directors for Bumerz Denizcilik Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, which was once used to purchase an oil tanker on behalf of Sitki Ayan. Bumerz Denizcilik was formerly chaired by Murat Teke, an employee of Sitki Ayan.
Petroleum ASB Group in its activities in Middle East, has traded more than 28 million tons of crude oil and oil products. In addition, the company has achieved the transportation of more than 12 million tons of crude oil for the refineries. Other main activities of ASB Group are:
– Exploration, drilling ve field development activities
– Procurement and sale of crude oil and oil products
– Transportation of crude oil and petroleum products
– Establishment and management of oil terminals
– Establishment and management of power plants
According to the official website of ASB Group from Turkey, they have office in Tehran, Iran and they are working in Iran with sanctioned Iranian entities.
ASB Group, with its main office in Istanbul has various offices from Asia to Europe in 14 different countries and 17 locations.
1. Neka and Tehran, Iran
They have offices in: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Dagestan, Yemen, Uganda, Sri Lanka and Libya;
Suppliers of ASB Group are:
1. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)
– Iranian government energy company overseen by Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum; has provided support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); has awarded contracts to Khatam Al-Anbia, a construction and development wing of the IRGC;
2. Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC)
3. National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC)
– State-owned and operated entity that provides financial resources to the Government of Iran
4. National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC)
5. TAVANIR Company (Organization for management of electric power generation and transmission)
6. Iran Water Power Company (IWPCO)
ASB Group subsidiaries:
1. Som Petrol Ticaret A.S.
2. Turang Transit Tasimacilik A.S.
3. Gent Elektrik Enerjisi Toptan Satis A.S.
4. Aktau Petrol Ticaret A.S.
5. Baslam Nakliyat
6. Bylan Uluslararasi Ticaret Ve Gayrimenkul Sanayi Anonim Sirketi
Industry:
Oil Industry
Country:
Turkey
Address:
Istinye Mah. Bostan Sk. No:12 Istinye Sariyer, Istanbul / Turkey
Tehran, Iran
Neka, Iran
Phone:
0212 229 04 44
Website:
www.asbgroup.com.tr
E-mail:
mail@asbgroup.com.tr
April 1, 2021:
» Despite U.S. sanctions ASB Group from Turkey is working with NIOC and NIGC;