* Swiss open criminal proceedings for money laundering
* Individual was working on African oil contracts-Gunvor
(Rewrites first paragraph, adds Attorney General quote, detail)
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, July 4 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities are investigating a former employee of Geneva-based oil trader Gunvor for activities in Congo, the company said without revealing what issues the investigation related to.
Asked about the case, Switzerland's Attorney General office said on Wednesday it had opened criminal proceedings against an unknown individual suspected of money laundering but declined to give any further details.
Gunvor, co-owned by Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko, said the unnamed former employee had been working in business development in oil trading in central Africa. The company said it was not itself the target of the investigation.
"Gunvor is fully cooperating with Swiss authorities on the investigation and Gunvor is also conducting a thorough internal investigation into these allegations," the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Oil producer Congo ranked 154th in Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions index.
Its production is around 300,000 barrels per day of oil and several international oil companies are present in the country, with France's Total <TOTF.PA> responsible for about two thirds of output.
Gunvor has bought at least three cargoes of Congo's Djeno crude oil grade since March worth nearly $300 million based on current prices, loading programmes compiled by Reuters showed.
It also won a contract to buy crude oil from Nigeria as part of 2012-2013 oil supply contracts worth nearly $60 billion, a document showed.
The group, which Timchenko said in an interview last month generates a net profit of between $300 million and $400 million a year on revenue of around $86 billion, was formerly the top exporter of Russian oil but industry sources say it has ceded its position and has since looked to expand in other areas.
Gunvor bought two European oil plants in Germany and Belgium from insolvent refiner Petroplus.
(Editing by Keiron Henderson and David Holmes)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
