The Russian oil company Rosneft’s local activities will be taken over by the German government, further dividing the two nations due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The action intends to resolve the situation affecting Rosneft’s refinery in Schwedt, north-eastern Germany, which relies nearly entirely on Russian crude oil deliveries through a pipeline from the Soviet era. Berlin, the capital of Germany, relies on Schwedt as a major jet and automotive fuel source.
The change affects two further refineries in Bavaria and Karlsruhe, Germany’s southwest. Rosneft is responsible for 12 per cent of Europe’s largest economy’s oil refining capacity. It will also be forced to take over all of its petrol stations nationwide.
According to a statement from the Federal Economy Ministry, the government will soon announce a “comprehensive” package of support measures, which will include arrangements for supplies of crude from other sources. “State administration counters the growing threat to the security of energy supply and lays the foundations for the survival and the future of Schwedt,” the statement read. According to reports, the transportation system leading from Polish ports to the Baltic should be upgraded.
At a news conference that starts at 8:30 ET, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck will go over the specifics of the package (12:30 GMT). According to the government statement, the biggest oil producer in Russia wasn’t given any compensation.