Russian woman arrested for espionage at an oil refinery in Gothenburg

The woman has been arrested at one of Sweden’s largest oil refineries.

The case is updated.

On Thursday, the police arrested a person at an oil refinery, one of Sweden’s largest, in Gothenburg.

The person has been arrested on suspicion of corporate espionage, reports Swedish TV4.

According to their sources, the person arrested is a woman who is a Russian citizen.

The action was carried out on Thursday and is surrounded by high secrecy.

– We know about it but it is a police matter so we have to refer there, says Gabriel Wernstedt, press secretary at Säpo to TV4.

The woman is to be arrested inside Preemraff at Hisingen in Gothenburg.

According to TV4, several people have been brought in for questioning and several house searches have been carried out in different places.

– I can’t say much at all. From our side, we also cannot confirm that the arrest was on Preemraff, says Caroline Karlsson, press officer in the police region West to VG.

She goes on to say:

– The public prosecutor’s office has decided to arrest a person suspected of corporate espionage. There are now ongoing preliminary investigations, which means that we cannot provide more information under the provisions relating to it.

– We are talking about an employee of a subcontractor, says Dani Backtag, press manager at Preemraff to SVT.

He replies to TV4 that he cannot say anything about how the suspicion arose.

Attorney General James von Reis in Gothenburg is leading the investigation.