Niels Troost (born October 14, 1968, in Switzerland) is a Dutch businessman. He is the founder of two oil traders: Swiss-based Paramount Energy & Commodities SA; and Dubai-based Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC. In November 2023, the UK government issued sanctions against a Dubai-based subsidiary of Paramount and then two months later, the UK also sanctioned Troost himself and his Geneva-based company.^[1] The reason for the sanctions against Niels Troost and his business assets is the unfettered Russian oil trade that routinely priced above the G7 cap while using Western-based insurance services which violates restrictions imposed by Western powers in an attempt to limit Moscow’s oil revenues.^[2][3]. Niels Troost is also known for being one of the first trader to support the Ukraine Grain Corridor via his company Harvest Commodities SA. ^{[4] [5]}

Niels Troost has an education in economics, international business and marketing from Hogere Economische School in Amsterdam. He also attended the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Oxford. In the UK, Niels Troost underwent a course in Creative International Trading in Crude Oil and Petroleum Products.^[6]

In 2017, Troost established the Switzerland-based company Paramount Energy & Commodities SA.^[7] With headquarters in Geneva, the company trades, supplies, and distributes raw materials, including crude oil and petroleum derivatives, storage, and transport.[1] The company used to have access to terminals in Russia, Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, China and finances small producers in Russia. In 2019, Paramount also set up a partnership with Angola based Carrinho Group, one of Angola's largest food processing group. ^[8]

In 2020, Neils Troost founded a near-identical company in Dubai, Paramount Energy and Commodities DMCC.^[9]

In late 2023, Great Britain expanded its sanction policies to include an additional 29 individuals and companies, including the energy trading firm Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC. These measures are continuously enforced by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA).^[10][11]

Following sanctions imposed by European countries, the US administration has also applied sanctions against companies that ship Russian oil in violation of Western norms.^[12] In response to that, Neils Troost turned to one of the Washington lobbyists Ankit Desai to help prevent potential US sanctions.^[13] The revealed contract between Niels Troost and Ankit Desai was then mentioned in one press outlet. ^[14]