Three bidders, from Romania, the European Union, and the United States, are interested in buying the local assets of Russian group Lukoil, which include a medium-sized refinery, a filling station chain, and an offshore gas perimeter under exploration, Romanian minister of energy Bogdan Ivan announced, according to Economica.net. There are also bidders interested in a global deal, he added.
Romania was notified several weeks ago, but the contract would be sealed between two private companies, minister Ivan said, implying that the Romanian authorities are not involved. Romania is certainly interested in seeing the deal sealed as soon as possible, he assured.
“At the moment, what we are doing is respecting US sanctions,” said the minister, recalling that there are also offers from Romania for the Lukoil refinery and gas stations.
Ivan explained that Romania did not request an extension of the period from which the American sanctions against Lukoil would apply because “we are not dependent on Russian resources.”
Minister Ivan also said that a law is to be published by which the state can initiate special administration for Lukoil’s assets, according to Economica.net. It remains unclear, according to his statements, whether his ministry is involved or not in the process.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for implementing these types of sanctions [such as against Lukoil], together with the other relevant ministries – because it is a government action – is drafting a regulatory act to which we have contributed since last week, with technical expertise from the Ministry of Energy, precisely to ensure the creation of a legal framework through which there would be a form of supervision for the respective assets and economic activities,” Ivan stated.
After initially planning to temporarily take over the management of Lukoil’s Petrotel refinery, the most problematic of Lukoil’s local assets, Romanian authorities announced that regulations would be drafted such as to smooth the sale of the Russian group’s assets. No such special regulation was announced yet, however, and it remains unclear what such regulations would provide.
Asked about the developments regarding the Petrotel refinery, president Nicusor Dan seemed to know nothing more than energy minister Bogdan Ivan.
“For the moment, we have a postponement until December 13, as you know, during this entire interval, the government can take some measures,” president Dan said.
“The refinery is not operating at the moment; it is under maintenance. Nothing dramatic will happen next week, in the next two weeks,” he added.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)
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