Berlin (dpa) – The German government has decided to retain control over the local units of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, including a major oil refinery in the north-eastern German town of Schwedt.

The government is extending the trusteeship over the PCK Schwedt refinery that began in 2022 by a further six months to March 10, 2026, the Economy Ministry said on Monday.

The refinery, located some 90 kilometres north-east of Berlin near the Polish border, supplies large parts of north-eastern Germany including the capital with petrol, heating oil, kerosene and chemical products.

The German government’s trusteeship over the refinery – which is 54% owned by Rosneft’s German subsidiaries – is only intended to be temporary.

Rosneft has been trying to sell its German assets after Berlin took control over them following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The German government at the time also decided to put a halt to Russian oil supplying the refinery, leaving the plant to look for supplies elsewhere.

The extension of the trusteeship guarantees the supply of the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg and secures the Schwedt site, the ministry said.

“A sale would be the most legally secure and therefore also the fastest way to enable investment in the refineries and secure the sites in Germany,” it added.

The German Rosneft units also have minority stakes in the MiRo refinery in Karlsruhe and Bayernoil in Vohburg. In total, Rosneft accounts for around 12% of the capacity for processing crude oil in Germany.

Source: dpa.com