Adds Rosneft reaction in a press release
FRANKFURT (awp/afp) – The energy standoff between Berlin and Moscow took a new step on Friday when Germany placed the activities of the Russian giant Rosneft in the country under supervision, in order to “secure” its oil supply. .
The subsidiaries of Rosneft in Germany, which represent 12% of the country’s oil refining capacity, are placed under “trust administration” forced by the national agency which manages the energy networks, announced the Ministry of the Economy.
With this trusteeship “it is a question of responding to the risks which weigh on the security of supplies” of energy in the country, specified the ministry.
Subsidiaries Rosneft Germany (RDG) and the company RN Refining & Marketing (RNRM) hold shares in three major refineries in the country.
The German government thus takes control of the PCK refinery in Schwedt, in the east of the country, where Rosneft holds a majority share (54.2%) and which supplies fuel to the capital Berlin, its airport and the entire region. around.
In the two other sites concerned, MiRo in Karlsruhe and Bayernoil in Vohburg, Rosneft holds a minority stake alongside other major Western oil players.
The conservatorship takes effect Friday and is initially limited to six months.
In this way “we are making ourselves less dependent on Russia and the decisions taken there”, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a press conference.
In a press release, Rosneft denounced an “illegal decision” and “a violation of all the fundamental principles of a market economy”.
The Russian oil group will analyze “all possible remedies to protect shareholders, including going to court”.
Previous in gas
Berlin already took control in early April of the former German subsidiary of Gazprom, Gazprom Germania, to secure its gas supply this time.
Since then, the German government has had to release aid of 9 to 10 billion euros to save this entity threatened with bankruptcy.
Now it is the future supply of oil that must be guaranteed, the EU having decided on an embargo on Russian oil following the war launched by Moscow in Ukraine.
The Schwedt refinery so far only processes Russian oil delivered via the Druzhba (“Friendship” in Russian) pipeline. But since Berlin has pledged to end Russian imports by the end of the year, the government must force the conversion of the site.
By taking control, Berlin also wants to prevent the refinery from being dispossessed of certain assets by its owner, or even being liquidated outright, for lack of sufficient cash or Russian oil.
In Schwedt, “we could have found ourselves in a situation where the security of supply is no longer guaranteed,” noted Economy Minister Robert Habeck to the press.
What future for Schwedt?
Berlin has been looking for months for alternatives to Russian oil to ensure the maintenance of activity in Schwedt, an industrial site located about a hundred kilometers from Berlin.
On site, the 1,200 employees of this former communist East German factory, supplied with Russian oil since the 1960s, are worried about the future.
“We must ensure that workers do not have to worry about their future,” insisted Mr. Scholz, presenting a plan for the transformation of the refinery on Friday.
The government and the regions intend to devote “more than one billion euros” to it over the next few years.
The idea is that the refinery can be supplied with oil via the ports of Rostock, in the north of the country, and Gdansk in Poland.
For this, the pipeline connected to Rostock will be “modernized” so that larger flows can be routed to Schwedt, and parallel discussions are underway with Warsaw.
The chancellor and his minister did not, however, ensure on Friday that the quantities of Russian oil processed on the site could be fully compensated by alternative deliveries.
“We have a good chance of having a sufficient supply of oil for the refinery to operate,” Habeck said.
Europe’s largest economy has already sharply reduced its dependence on Russian oil imports, which accounted for 35% of its supplies before Russia’s war in Ukraine.
At the same time, Russia has for the moment stopped its gas deliveries to the country, which will not be able to completely replace it before 2024, according to the latest government forecasts.
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