Help only without Rosneft shares
Poland sets condition for oil delivery
09/22/2022, 9:12 p.m
Germany no longer wants to process Russian oil from the end of the year – and therefore needs an alternative to Rosneft oil. It could come from Poland. However, Warsaw makes a change of ownership at Schwedt a condition for his help.
Poland is putting pressure on Germany at the East German refinery Schwedt and suggesting expropriation of the Russian owner Rosneft. Poland is prepared to support Schwedt in supplying oil, the climate ministry said in Warsaw. The prerequisite, however, is that Rosneft no longer holds any shares in the refinery. Despite the trust administration set up by Germany, Rosneft continues to be the owner.
“The PCK Raffinerie Schwedt is not yet in state hands.” The Ministry of Economic Affairs in Berlin then announced that Poland had welcomed the trustee solution. The talks with Poland and the exchange on the pipeline network and oil supplies are constructive. Rosneft holds a good 54 percent of the shares, Shell is the second largest owner with a good 37 percent. Germany no longer wants to use Russian oil from the end of the year, which is Rosneft’s business model in Schwedt.
The fuel comes directly from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline. Therefore, Rosneft-Germany was put under trusteeship and the management was replaced. In order to sufficiently utilize the Schwedt refinery without Rosneft oil, however, deliveries via the Polish port of Gdansk and the pipeline system there are now dependent. With tanker transports to the port of Rostock and the pipeline from there to Schwedt, only around 60 percent of the capacity can be secured. However, at least 75 percent is considered necessary.
The background to the Polish pressure could be that the oil company Orlen, according to German government circles and also Polish insiders, is interested in a majority stake and thus in control of Schwedt. In a first step, Rosneft would then have to give up its 54 percent stake, for example through expropriation by the German state. Rosneft had already protested against the trust administration and is considering legal action. The federal government confirmed that there were talks with prospective buyers. Among them are those from Poland, said a government representative. Orlen is the largest Polish oil company, the state is a shareholder.
Energy Security Act would allow expropriation
Shell, the second largest shareholder, has been wanting to withdraw from the refinery for a long time. Verbio and Enertrag, both from the renewable energy sector, had expressed an interest. They want to give Schwedt a perspective if oil is dispensed with for climate protection reasons. The German Energy Security Act would allow Rosneft to be expropriated. However, this step would be a further escalation and Germany would have to reckon with a similar step against German companies in Russia.
With over 3,000 direct and indirect employees, the PCK refinery in Schwedt plays a central role in supplying East Germany with gasoline and other refinery products. Parts of western Poland are also supplied, as is Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Since the federal government also considers an immediate stop in Russian oil deliveries to be possible after the trusteeship, it had secured the step.
The warehouses in Schwedt and also in the neighboring Leuna refinery are full, it said. According to government circles, the reserves last for up to 14 days. However, both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck also referred to the talks with Poland and a joint working group to further secure Schwedt.