Exclusive-Germany examines nationalising Rosneft arm after Trump sanctions, say sources
By John O’Donnell and Christoph Steitz
BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – U.S. sanctions on Russian oil producer Rosneft have reignited discussions in Germany about nationalizing the company’s businesses there, including a refinery on which Berlin depends for most of its fuel, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.
This highlights the complex network connecting Germany to Russia, which supplied energy to Europe’s industrial powerhouse in the years leading up to the war in Ukraine.
The US Treasury said on Wednesday it had granted a license to Rosneft’s German arm exempting it from US sanctions until April 2026.
Securing a permanent exemption remains Berlin’s preferred option, but German authorities are also exploring the potential to seize operations and sell them to a foreign investor, two sources said.
A spokesman for the economy ministry said it had received a letter from the US that would act as a “temporary solution”.
Rosneft’s German arm owns a majority stake in the Schwedt oil refinery, which supplies most of Berlin’s fuel, including its airport, gasoline for pumps in eastern Germany and key components of the local chemical industry.
It also has shares in MiRo and Bayernoil refineries.
These assets were placed under a trusteeship that gives the German government control in 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which shook Germany’s decades-old energy ties with Russia.
The guardianship arrangement is renewed every six months, but it can be overturned in court because at each renewal, the legal basis of the emergency measure, which is supposed to be temporary, is examined.
Berlin has so far refrained from seizing Rosneft’s local assets out of concerns it would have to pay compensation to Moscow.
MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
Russian media estimated the value of Rosneft’s assets in Germany at around $7 billion, although one of the two sources said the real value could be less than half that. Moscow warned Europe against any seizure of its property. German companies with factories and other investments in Russia could bear the brunt of any Kremlin response.
Rosneft has been trying to sell the business since March 2024, but to no avail. He did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Michael Kellner, a Green Party member of the German parliament who served in the last coalition government that oversaw Rosneft, called on the government to nationalize the enterprise.
“This is systematically important for Germany,” Kellner told Reuters. “The government needs to nationalize Rosneft’s businesses in Germany to ensure certainty about its future.”
