The company "Gunvor" has withdrawn its offer to acquire the foreign assets of "Lukoil", including the refinery in Burgas, Reuters reported. This development comes against the backdrop of harsh criticism from the US Department of the Treasury, which defined the company as a Kremlin puppet and expressed its categorical disagreement with the deal.
The decision of the Switzerland-based trading company comes after a publication on the social network "X" from the US Department of the Treasury. It stated that Washington does not approve the deal to purchase the international assets of the largest private oil company in Russia.
The US Department of the Treasury was categorical in its statements. "President Trump was perfectly clear that the war must end immediately. While Putin continues his senseless killings, the Kremlin puppet "Gunvor" will never get a license to operate and make a profit," the message said.
In response to these accusations, Gunvor's director of corporate affairs, Seth Pietras, in a position sent to Reuters, described the statement as "fundamentally wrong and untrue". He welcomed the opportunity to clarify the misunderstanding. Meanwhile, in an email, Pietras confirmed the withdrawal of the offer for "Lukoil"'s foreign assets.
The decision to withdraw the offer comes against the backdrop of sanctions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury against "Lukoil" last month. These sanctions are part of efforts to reduce Russia's revenues from the energy sector in connection with the war in Ukraine. Shortly after the introduction of sanctions, the second-largest oil company in Russia announced that it had accepted "Gunvor"'s offer to purchase its international assets. These assets include refineries in Europe, specifically in Bulgaria and Romania, stakes in oil fields in countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico, as well as hundreds of gas stations around the world.
The US Department of the Treasury has the authority to issue licenses or exemptions that allow transactions related to sanctioned persons or companies. Before the withdrawal of the offer, experts expressed doubts about the possibility of the deal being realized, emphasizing that its scale significantly exceeds the capacity of the Swiss commodities trader.
"Gunvor" is one of the largest independent trading companies in the world, specializing in the trade of energy products such as crude oil and natural gas. The company was co-founded by Swedish billionaire Torbjörn Törnqvist and Gennady Timchenko. Timchenko, who is known as a close associate of Putin, is included in the list of sanctioned persons by the EU. In 2014, he sold his shares in "Gunvor", but questions about the company's links to Moscow remain. The unfolding of events highlights the growing international vigilance towards companies operating near Russian energy interests, as well as the determination of Western governments to impose sanctions against individuals and organizations associated with the Kremlin.