Status: 03/14/2023 3:56 p.m
The Federal Administrative Court ruled that the federal government was allowed to place the Schwedt refinery under trusteeship. The Russian oil company Rosneft failed with its lawsuit.
The federal government was allowed to put the Schwedt refinery under trusteeship – the Russian oil company Rosneft, whose subsidiaries hold a majority stake in the refinery, failed with its lawsuit before the Federal Administrative Court. The judges in Leipzig ruled that the order of the Federal Ministry of Economics was lawful.
The court basically justified its decision with the fact that in September 2022 there was a concrete risk that the Rosneft companies could no longer make their contribution to energy security.
In September, a good six months after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Affairs put the companies Rosneft Germany and RN Refining & Marketing under trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency and thus effectively took control. Both companies are majority owners of the PCK refinery in Schwedt.
Subsidiaries came under pressure
The ministry had entered new legal territory with this step and justified it with an imminent threat to German security of supply. Because the refinery is very important for the fuel supply in north-eastern Germany and in the Berlin area. In addition, around 3000 jobs depend on it.
The German Rosneft subsidiaries have had major problems as a result of the sanctions against Russia, and banks and insurance companies have said goodbye to the cooperation or announced this. The Russian parent company wanted to withdraw liquidity.
In addition, the companies had made no move to seek alternatives to the Russian oil that had previously supplied the refinery. In the court hearing, the two former Rosneft executives largely denied these issues.
Trust administration is extended
Formally, Rosneft still holds 54 percent of the shares in the refinery, but cannot freely dispose of these shares. Other shareholders are Shell and ENI. After the judgment was announced, the Ministry of Economy announced that the trusteeship of the Rosneft subsidiaries would be extended by six months. Otherwise it would have expired on Wednesday.
Oil now comes by tanker – and via Russia
Since the embargo against Russian oil, the PCK refinery has been supplied primarily by tanker via the port of Rostock. From there a pipeline runs to the refinery. Further deliveries are expected via the port of Gdansk.
In addition, the first quantities of oil have already flowed from Kazakhstan to Schwedt by pipeline – it is the Druzhba pipeline, which runs partly through Russia and through which Russian oil used to be pumped to Schwedt.
However, according to earlier information from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the pipeline fees to Russia for Kazakh oil are significantly lower than the sums paid for Russian oil.