Skip to Primary Navigation

Skip to main content

How Poland lost $230mn trying to buy Venezuelan oil with crypto

Two gas tanks at a Orlen filling station on a cold winter day with snow.
Photo: Getty Images
The Financial Times's profile image

The Financial Times

11 min read

An attempt to use digital currencies for a bold oil trade became one of Poland’s biggest scandals.

15 September, 2026 by Paul Caruana Galizia

In late November 2023, on a boat off Abu Dhabi, a top executive at Poland’s biggest state-backed energy group turned to a young trader he knew and gave him a deceptively simple instruction: “Go out and get me Venezuelan oil.”

The executive was Samer Awad,

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Get full access, free for a month

Start your 28-day free trial to continue reading and accessall content on GRIP – no payment details required.

Start free trial Sign in

What’s included:

  • Every new article, plus our 5,000+ archive
  • Daily regulatory insight and guidance
  • Exclusive interviews and in-depth analysis
  • Coverage of industry-leading events and conferences
  • All podcasts and videos, featuring industry experts
  • The full set of Rules Navigator tools
  • An ad-free experience