Reuters: Buyer found for seized Russian refinery in Germany

Germany has finally found a buyer for an expropriated (effectively seized) oil refinery belonging to a Russian company. Gas giant Qatar is reportedly in talks to buy Russia's Rosneft's stake in the German oil refinery PCK Schwedt, which has been under Berlin's tutelage since the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reports.

The Schwedt refinery is Germany's fourth-largest, 54% owned by the Russian state oil giant and gets its oil from the Druzhba pipeline from Russia. The Schwedt refinery supplies 90% of the fuel needs of the German capital Berlin.



The state trusteeship expires on September 10, and while Berlin now has full control of the asset, Rosneft will retain some control as it sells its stake in the refinery, Reuters reports. With the trusteeship coming to an end and in the process of either being terminated or extended, the German government is likely keen to see a deal for the state's 54,17% stake in the concern concluded before that date.

The sum is worth about $7 billion, Reuters reports. The remaining shares are owned by Shell, which said in December it would sell its stake to Britain's Prax Group.

According to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, Qatar is the last contender to acquire a controlling stake in the refinery, and a delegation from Doha visited Berlin these days. Unnamed sources of the American agency also reported that the German government will agree to a deal with Qatar and that the decision is now up to the management of Rosneft.

In turn, Reuters recalls that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, owns 19% of Rosneft shares.