Exclusive: Qadhafi talks oil-tanker sales with Russians

Russian investors are on the verge of buying a fleet of oil tankers from Libya’s state-owned General National Maritime Transport (GNMTC), says a source close to the negotiations

GNMTC is under the control of Muammar Qadhafi’s son Hannibal. According to sources, he has spent recent weeks trying to sell the company, or its vessels, as part of a bid to settle debts and raise much-needed cash for the war-ravaged regime. Tighter EU sanctions on regime-controlled ports in Libya and Nato’s interdiction of vessels carrying fuel to supply Qadhafi have severely disrupted GNMTC’s ability to trade. A sale of some of the vessels may be an effort to circumvent sanctions. The Russian party would pay $300 million for some of the GNMTC fleet: the company’s website lists 15 vessels, although other sources say it owns 22. Its book value before civil war broke out was $1.3 billion, sai