(Bloomberg) -- Germany is likely to extend its trusteeship over the local subsidiaries of Russia’s state energy giant Rosneft PJSC for a fourth time in order to give Moscow more time for the sale of the seized entity.
The state-controlled Russian oil giant is in the process of finding a buyer for the two German units — with up to three parties interested — but the process will take longer, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private.
That suggests the ownership limbo over a key refinery that got cut off Russian shipments is set to persist.
The state’s temporary trusteeship over Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH will expire on Sept. 10, and will be prolonged until March 2025. The trusteeship can be extended every six months.
A spokesperson for the German economy ministry said no final decision has been made yet, and Rosneft Deutschland didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In September 2022, at the height of the energy crisis, Germany put Rosneft’s local units under its temporary control. A deal closed in March allowed the company to find its own buyers for the entities, while avoiding a nationalization and halting further lawsuits.
The Rosneft units have shares in three refineries in Germany, including the PCK Raffinerie GmbH in Schwedt near Berlin, which was cut off from Russian crude supplies two years ago and has not been working at full utilization since.
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