The Kremlin has reacted with sharp criticism to the federal government’s considerations about nationalizing Rosneft Germany. “This is nothing other than the expropriation of foreign property; these are all steps that are likely to undermine the economic and legal foundations of European states,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax news agency. Such actions devalued Germany’s attractiveness as an investment location.
The Russian state-owned company Rosneft, led by Igor Sechin, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, holds a majority stake in the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg. The shares of around 54 percent are currently under federal state control – in a so-called trust administration. The aim was to keep the plant, which had been powered by Russian oil for decades and was important for northeast Germany, running after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the EU oil embargo. Since the trust administration currently expires on March 10th, the federal government is considering nationalizing the shares. A decision has not yet been made.
Rosneft does not want to accept expropriation
Rosneft will take action against this and exhaust all legal means, said Peskov. However, there are no negotiations at the state level between Moscow and Berlin on the subject.
Rosneft Germany does not want to accept a possible expropriation. The Berlin law firm Malmendier Legal, which represents Rosneft, said: “Such an expropriation would represent a measure that would remain unprecedented in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany and would forever harm investment security. Rosneft, as a listed stock corporation, will take all measures to ensure to protect the rights of their shareholders.”
And further: “Considering that it was the trustee’s instruction not to purchase crude oil from Russia from January 1, 2023 and the order of a state trust in September 2022 that brought the refinery operations into today’s trouble, it remains a curiosity “How the state itself or a hastily summoned third party should be able to operate the refineries better than in the current situation.”
The federal government wants to ensure security of supply
According to dpa information, the federal government’s primary goal remains to ensure security of supply and to secure Rosneft Germany’s business operations reliably and in the long term. With regard to the expiry of the trust administration, it was said that without subsequent government measures, Rosneft Germany was in danger of no longer being able to fulfill its supply mandate.
After the start of the war, Russia’s leadership also placed several Western companies under state trust management, including the Russian subsidiary of the German energy supplier Uniper. After the Danish Carlsberg Group’s Russian breweries were handed over to state control, Carlsberg boss Jacob Aarup-Andersen accused Putin of “stealing business” from the brewery. Other Western corporations that want to exit their Russian business because of the war are obliged to give a significant discount on the true value of their property when selling.
