Lukoil “informs that, as a result of restrictive measures against the company and its subsidiaries by some states, the company announces its intention to sell its international assets. The review of bids from potential buyers has begun,” it said in a statement on its website. The sale takes place under the authorization granted by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department until November 21 for the winding up of the activities.
The American sanctions affect Lukoil, Rosneft and a number of subsidiaries that are at least half-owned by Lukoil or Rosneft. They involve a freeze on all assets of Lukoil and Rosneft in the United States and a ban on all companies from doing business with the oil companies. Lukoil and Rosneft have also been added to OFAC’s so-called SDN list, which is used by many countries. Washington has given companies working with Russian oil companies two months to cut ties.
© Afp
According to Bloomberg news agency, Lukoil is the most internationally diverse of all Russian oil giants, with upstream activities, or oil exploration and extraction, in former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. The company is also active in Iraq, Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana, among others. It has a network of 5,300 petrol stations in nineteen countries around the world and refineries in Europe.
A former director anonymously confided to the news medium Politico that the company’s turnover and profit could drop by “about 30 percent”. “Lukoil is doomed,” said the director.
Earlier this month, the companies were blacklisted in the United Kingdom.
