ROME, June 11 (Reuters) – Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister said on Saturday nationalization was among options for the Sicily-based Lukoil refinery.
While European Union leaders agreed at the end of May to a gradual embargo on Russian crude, with some exemptions, the ban on imports by sea could have serious repercussions for the refinery.
“There are several options under study, one is something like nationalization (…), another is for an external buyer to intervene, for example,” said Roberto Cingolani during an event organized by the newspaper Il Foglio, without specifying who this buyer might be.
The ISAB refinery represents around 20% of the Italian refining capacity. It employs around 1,000 people and bought 30 to 40% of its raw materials from Russia, the rest coming from international markets.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, however, it has had to obtain crude supplies from Lukoil, as international banks no longer grant it credit. (Report Angelo Amante, French version Benjamin Mallet)