site.btaEuropean Commission Working to Assess Full Implications of Proposed Sale of Lukoil's International Assets

The European Commission is keeping in contact with Bulgaria and all other EU member states to understand the full implications of the proposed sale of Lukoil's international assets, the Commission’s Deputy Chief Spokesperson Olof Gill said at a regular press conference in Brussels on Monday. Gill was taking questions about the future of Lukoil’s refinery in the Bulgarian coastal city of Burgas.

Asked why Lukoil is not on the EU sanctions list, the Spokesperson noted that there have been 19 packages of sanctions against Russia so far. They are based, “on the one hand, on striking at the heart of the Russian economy in order that the Russian war machine would be weakened; on the other hand, we have to take into account economic and other strategic interests here in the EU, plus we have to take into account the political fact that any sanctions have to be agreed by unanimity, so on that basis we have included or not included various aspects in our sanctions packages so far”.

On October 22, the United States imposed sanctions on the two largest Russian oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft. Later, Lukoil announced its intention to sell its international assets. On October 30, the company said it had accepted an offer from Gunvor Group Ltd. to purchase Lukoil's wholly owned subsidiary, Lukoil International GmbH, which owns Lukoil Group's international assets.