The company operates in the trade, transport, storage and optimization of petroleum and other energy products, as well as having investments in oil terminal and port facilities.

[15] In September 2009, Gunvor made its first direct investment in oil exploration when it purchased a 30% interest in Lagansky block in the Caspian Sea from Lundin Petroleum.

[17] In 2021, the American chemical company Dow announced a plastics recycling program in partnership with Gunvor's Rotterdam refining operation.

[citation needed] Gunvor has stated that it intends to develop its new energy trading division so that it will become a more significant part of a more diversified business.

[23] In December 2023, Gunvor acquired a 75% stake in a 785 megawatt power plant in Bilbao, Spain, from BP Gas Marketing Limited.

[24] In August 2024, it was announced that TotalEnergies had sold a 50% stake in Total PARCO Pakistan Limited, an oil marketing firm, to Gunvor Group.

It was a joint venture between Total Energies and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited in Pakistan, with a retail network of more than 800 service stations.

[27][28][29][30][31][32] On 20 March 2014 Timchenko was included on the United States' Sanctions list in the wake of the annexation of Crimea by Russia, due to his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[36] Timchenko explained the sale by "anticipating potential economic sanctions" and to "ensure with certainty the continued and uninterrupted operations of Gunvor Group".

[39] Following the major WikiLeaks release of US State Department cables in November 2010, it was reported by the London Daily Telegraph[40] that the wealth of the then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was linked to a "secretive Swiss-based oil trading firm" called Gunvor.

[41] In 2017, a Swedish Radio documentary presented evidence that Gunvor had been involved in a Belarusian oil smuggling scheme featuring corruption at the highest levels in the Belarus government.

[citation needed] In March 2020, The Sunday Times published an article based on a 2015 interview with Sergei Pugachev, once known as Kremlin's banker, linking Gunvor to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[44] In 2019, Gunvor "was condemned by Swiss authorities to pay approximately US$96.7 million[45] for failing to put adequate measures in place to prevent the bribery of foreign government officials[46] in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo in exchange for lucrative oil deals.