Trust administration in Schwedt
Bund wants to get rid of Russian refinery shares quickly
02/16/2023, 9:10 p.m
The Russian state-owned company Rosneft holds a 54 percent majority in the Schwedt refinery. After the oil embargo against Moscow, the federal government placed these shares under trusteeship. A new draft law is intended to ensure that they are sold quickly.
The federal government is paving the way for a quick sale of the shares of the Russian Rosneft group in the Schwedt refinery. Shares in companies that are under trusteeship should be able to be transferred directly in the future, according to a draft law by the Ministry of Economics. This should be possible if it is necessary to “secure the functioning of the community in the energy sector and to maintain security of supply,” according to the draft.
The draft is now being voted on by the government and should be decided quickly. The intermediate step of a formal expropriation of the company is thus omitted. It is linked to high legal hurdles in the Energy Security Act (Ensig) and, in the case of Schwedt, would make it more difficult to transfer the Rosneft shares, which are under German trusteeship. This gives the federal government more leeway in trust cases, government officials told Reuters.
This is currently limited when it comes to the transfer of company assets. According to the current legal situation, sales are only possible if they serve to preserve the value of the company. The state-owned company Rosneft holds a 54 percent majority in the refinery. In the past, the company had also supplied Schwedt with crude oil from Russia. With the embargo on Russian oil since the beginning of the year, this business model has been dropped. The Rosneft shares are under trust, but legally still belong to the Russian company.
Poland wants to involve its own suppliers
A permanent supply of Schwedt is currently only possible via the Polish port of Gdansk. However, Poland is demanding that Rosneft from Schwedt be excluded and at the same time is urging the Polish utility Orlen to take a stake in the refinery. Beyond Rosneft, another 37 percent of the shares are held by Shell and a good eight percent by the Italian ENI. German companies such as Enertrag and Verbio are also interested in entering Schwedt. 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.
But parts of western Poland are also supplied, as is Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. At the moment, however, Schwedt cannot run at full capacity: the refinery receives oil for around 60 percent via the port of Rostock and a pipeline. However, Schwedt would have to work with at least 70 percent capacity – better more, as the German side admits.
Higher utilization could be achieved if tankers were unloaded in Gdańsk and used the Polish-owned Druzhba pipeline network. The state government in Brandenburg is concerned that low utilization of Schwedt could lead to higher fuel prices in eastern Germany. For Monday, she has therefore invited to a special meeting of the Task Force Schwedt with the Federal Ministry of Economics. The task force was formed to secure the situation in Schwedt, but also in the Leuna refinery, after the oil embargo against Russia.