With the extended trust administration via the majority owners of the PCK oil refinery in Schwedt, the federal government wants to ensure the continued supply of fuel. “The location has been consolidated in the past few months. There have been no supply bottlenecks,” said Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs Michael Kellner on the occasion of the decision on Friday. With the fiduciary administration, the federal government is extending its de facto control once again by six months.
This affects the two majority owners of PCK, Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining
“Ensure supply reliably and sensibly”
The subsidiary Rosneft Germany sees this as a positive prerequisite for supply: “With this decision, we can reliably and sensibly ensure supply for the next six months,” said spokesman Burkhard Woelki of the German Press Agency.
The refinery in Schwedt in the Uckermark supplies large parts of northeast Germany with fuel. Until the end of last year, the refinery mainly processed crude oil from Russia. As part of the sanctions imposed because of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the federal government decided not to use Russian oil. Alternatively, oil comes via Gdansk and Rostock as well as from Kazakhstan. The federal government had complained that the majority owners had no interest in turning away from Russian oil.
In September 2022, the federal government imposed trusteeship on the two majority owners. He justified this with an imminent threat to security of supply as a result of the Ukraine war. Rosneft sued, and the Federal Administrative Court confirmed the status in March. The federal government extended the trust administration by six months in March. It was initially unclear whether the Russian state-owned company Rosneft would take legal action again.
“Operational hectic is out of place”
The Brandenburg state government considers the extended trust administration to be correct in view of a possible change in the ownership structure of the PCK refinery. “It gives everyone involved a time buffer with regard to the decision on a further new ownership structure,” said Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD). “This is not an easy task and there is no need for operational hectic.” Since a decision by the Bundestag in April, the federal government has been able to sell shares in companies under trust management more easily.
The refinery is planning to convert towards a climate-friendly future with hydrogen. The federal government is making 375 million euros available until 2032 for a special conversion program for Schwedt, Leuna and the ports.
