(Bloomberg) — Germany is taking control of Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC’s German unit, including stakes in three oil refineries, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government reacts to the unprecedented energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.
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The federal network regulator BNetzA will become trustee of RN Refining & Marketing GmbH and Rosneft Deutschland GmbH, which accounts for around 12% of Germany’s oil processing capacity, and its stakes in oil refineries in Schwedt, Karlsruhe and Vohburg, the economy ministry said Friday.
The move “counteracts the impending threat to the security of energy supply and lays an important foundation for the preservation and future of the Schwedt location,” the ministry said in an emailed statement.
Surging gas prices and Moscow’s move to squeeze supplies to Europe have already prompted a series of government bailouts and rescue loans for energy firms. Scholz’s administration is in advanced talks to take over Uniper SE and two other large gas importers in a historic step to avoid a collapse of its energy market, according to people familiar with the matter.
Taking control of Rosneft Deutschland is meant to secure operations of the Schwedt refinery near the Polish border, which supplies the bulk of the jet fuel for the German capital’s airport and gasoline for the region’s vehicles. The facility has traditionally relied on the Druzhba pipeline from Russia for crude supply.
“The decision is accompanied by a comprehensive package for the future, which will provide a transformational boost for the region and support the refinery to ensure the supply of oil via alternative supply routes,” the ministry said.
Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck will present more details on the nationalization plan at a news conference in Berlin later Friday, it added.
(Updates with details on Schwedt refinery in fourth paragraph)
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