The European Commission on Friday authorized a new trustee structure that gives Berlin a long-term control over the German assets of Russian oil group Rosneft, opens new tab, as part of attempts to seek a structural solution to the business.
The assets, including stakes in the PCK Schwedt, MiRo, and Bayernoil refineries, were put under the German government’s trusteeship in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow that shook decades of energy relations between Germany and Russia.
The trusteeship must be extended after every six months, depending on maintaining energy security regularly, causing uncertainty principally at the PCK Schwedt refinery that supplies the majority of the fuel to Berlin. The existing trusteeship terminates on March 10.
A Commission spokesperson stated, “The transaction examined by the Commission under merger control rules relates to a new indefinite trusteeship over the German Rosneft entities, under national law.”
It reported, “Under the new trusteeship, the shareholders of the German Rosneft entities are barred from exercising their voting rights for the duration of the trusteeship.”
The decision by Friday basically overturns one regulatory barrier to continuing operating PCK Schwedt as a company under German ownership with majority ownership by Rosneft, a dual-layered scheme to prevent expropriation and potential lawsuits.
It nevertheless fails to comment on the problem of U.S. sanctions on Rosneft as part of Washington working to pressure Russia in the energy sector, with the last year Berlin securing an exception on PCK Schwedt, set to lapse on April 29.
According to correspondence seen by Reuters, the refinery management privately warned Berlin last month that U.S. sanctions were damaging its business and endangering the supply of fuel to the capital of the country and the region as a whole.
