The German government transferred oil importers Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH under the control of the Federal Network Agency of Germany (regulator). This was announced on Friday by the Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection.
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“The German government, on the basis of the energy security law, transferred Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH under the trust management of the Federal Grid Agency,” the agency’s press service said in a statement.
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According to the ministry, the Cabinet took such a step to ensure the operation of three refineries – in Schwedt, Karlsruhe and Foburg an der Donau, allegedly “in light of the threat to the security of energy supply.”
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The Ministry of Economy recalled that Rosneft Deutschland GmbH accounts for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity, which makes it the largest oil refinery in Germany. The fate of the refinery in Schwedt, which is still completely dependent on the supply of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, depends primarily on the company’s activities, the German side pointed out.
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On the eve it became known about the possibility of transferring the company under external management and even under state control. The legal prerequisite for this was created this summer through the adoption of an amendment to the German energy security law, including with regard to the refinery in Schwedt. For the German government, the possible involvement of the state in the refinery was fraught with risk: if Rosneft were forced to leave the company in accordance with the energy security law, then Germany would have to reckon with a sharp reaction from Russia. In this case, it is possible that the Russian Federation will stop deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline. If there were supply shortages and queues at gas stations in Germany, this could further fuel the protests against the sanctions policy that are now flaring up in East Germany.
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The capacity of the PCK Raffinerie GmbH plant in Schwedt reaches 11.6 million tons per year. The refinery employs 1,200 employees. In November 2021, it was reported that Rosneft was buying out Shell’s stake in the PCK refinery in Germany in the amount of 37.5%, as a result of which the share of the Russian company in the enterprise was to increase from 54.17% to 91.67%. Another shareholder of the refinery is the Italian Eni, which owns a share of 8.33%.
