Washington has imposed new restrictions on Rosneft, which nonetheless owns stakes in its German operations
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has mentioned he assumes that the US will grant an exemption for the German subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned oil large Rosneft from newly imposed sanctions.
Talking to reporters at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Merz mentioned the problem had already been mentioned “briefly” with Washington.
Rosneft retains stakes in three refineries in Germany that had been positioned beneath state administration in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine battle and ensuing sanctions. The corporate’s German operations account for about 12% of the nation’s complete oil-processing capability, in response to Bloomberg.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump introduced a brand new spherical of sanctions towards Russia’s vitality sector, concentrating on Rosneft and one other oil main, Lukoil. The measures bar US companies and monetary establishments from coping with the oil corporations.
“We are going to talk about this with the Individuals,” Merz mentioned, including “I assume {that a} corresponding exemption for Rosneft will likely be granted.” Berlin insists the US measures mustn’t apply to Rosneft’s German subsidiaries as they’ve been “decoupled from their Russian mum or dad firm.”
On Wednesday, the UK issued an exemption permitting enterprise exercise with Rosneft’s German-based belongings. The choice was introduced shortly after London expanded its energy-related sanctions towards Russia’s largest oil producers.
The risk to Germany’s refineries provides to the broader financial pressure dealing with Berlin, as the federal government struggles to revive development in an economic system that noticed two years of annual contraction in 2023 and 2024, partly as a result of lack of low-cost Russian vitality. Excessive gas and electrical energy costs have negatively impacted home industrial output and competitiveness, leaving policymakers beneath strain to safe steady vitality provides whereas sustaining alignment with Western sanctions.
Rosneft has condemned the switch of its German subsidiaries into exterior administration, calling the choice illegal and a violation of basic market economic system rules.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western sanctions as unlawful, including that it’s resistant to them. The Russian International Ministry described the brand new US sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil, and their subsidiaries as “solely counterproductive.”
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