Reuters: Rosneft's German refinery management warns Berlin of harm from US sanctions

The management of the Russian company Rosneft's refinery in Germany has privately warned Berlin that US sanctions are harming its operations and threatening fuel supplies to the country's capital and the region around it. About this declares Reuters, citing a letter from January.

In it, the management of the Schwedt refinery made an "urgent appeal" to minister of Economy and Energy Katherina Reiche to resolve the conflict with the United States over the future of the enterprise, the media reported.

According to him, the letter outlines the escalating problems at the refinery, which provides fuel for nine out of ten cars in Berlin, the city's airport, supplies gasoline throughout Brandenburg and the east of Germany, as well as key components for the chemical industry.

Thanks to German lobbying Schwedt has been granted an exception from US sanctions, introduced at the end of 2025 against Rosneft and Lukoil as part of US efforts to put pressure on Russia's energy sector. This exemption expires on April 29.

However, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, the company is dependent on long-term supply contracts, banks for payments, and insurers for oil cargoes, all of which are affected by concerns about possible sanctions.

The source said that this pressure could accelerate the sale of the refinery, and that an oil group and a major energy investor have already considered buying the company.

"We are already experiencing ... restrictions in our operating business," Schwedt's management wrote in a letter calling on the German government to grant them a permanent exemption from US sanctions.

The management noted that the effects of the current sanctions affect the security of supply for the region.

The sanctions, although suspended, have shaken confidence in Rosneft's German unit among banks, insurance companies and its main supplier, Kazakhstan, the Reuters source said.

The German Ministry of Energy told the media that it was negotiating to extend the US license and pledged to support the refinery.

The source, familiar with the German government's position, said that both the sale of the company to an American investor and takeover by the German state.

However, an anonymous U.S. official said that while officials in Washington have been urging U.S. companies to consider acquiring Rosneft's German business, they have not shown much interest in investing in Europe in recent months.

Among other things, one of Reuters' interlocutors said that the sale of the German business to Rosneft was discussed during a meeting of the US president Donald Trump and a dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August 2025.

In total, Rosneft's German business, including control over Schwedt and stakes in several refineries, accounts for one third of the oil refined in Germany.

• After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the German government placed Rosneft's local assets under temporary trust management and has since extended the term of this trust several times. Berlin has so far refrained from nationalizing these companies, as it fears that such a move could trigger retaliatory measures by the Kremlin against German activities in Russia, wrote Bloomberg in October.
• In December, Reuters reported that Shell wants to sell its share at the Schwedt refinery.