Rosneft wants to lift trust management from German refineries

BERLIN, Mar 2 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Rosneft will pursue cancellation of trust management of its German refineries and compensation of losses in court, lawyer Bertrand Malmendier told PRIME on Thursday.

"Our first priority is to remove trust management and to protect Rosneft’s assets for the shareholders. Secondly, we are working on the issue of compensation," Malmendier said.

He said that Rosneft is still the owner of the refineries, but operating management is done by the Federal Network Agency which qualifies its functions as trust manager's.

The German government passed Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH into the management of the Federal Network Agency on September 16. The agency gained control over Rosneft's stakes in the refineries in Schwedt, Karlsruhe and Neustadt an der Donau.

Rosneft filed a claim against the decision. The first hearing was held on February 22, the second is slated for March 7–8.

According to Malmendier, Rosneft's shareholders sustained a 'huge loss' because of the decision, as the plants had a large profit in 2022, the whole of it remaining undistributed, while the trust management costs are substantial.

The current supply and public services agreements with Rosneft must be fulfilled, he said.

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