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(Bloomberg) — Washington has floated a six-month deadline for Berlin to sort out the ownership limbo affecting the German assets of Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC, allowing them to be temporarily exempted from US sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The Trump administration has conveyed to German counterparts that it’s considering granting a non-renewable, limited general license for Rosneft Deutschland, the people said, asking not to be named as the issue is sensitive. German officials are assessing the idea and will provide feedback in the coming days, they said.
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One person said German economy minister Katherina Reiche aims to discuss the topic at the G7 Energy and Environment Ministers’ meeting in Toronto this week.
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While the arrangement would ease the risk of sanctions disrupting German refining activities in the near term, it adds pressure on Berlin to come up with a workable ownership structure that excludes Russia once its trusteeship expires next March.
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The German government seized the Rosneft assets after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has extended its trusteeship multiple times since then. While it negotiated a deal with Moscow to sell the German units, talks with Qatar as a buyer eventually failed as both sides couldn’t agree on a price.
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Rosneft Deutschland holds shares in three German refineries, which account for 12% of the nation’s total processing capacity, including PCK Raffinerie GmbH’s Schwedt plant near Berlin. It also has a stake in the Transalpine crude pipeline.
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The six-month deadline being floated by the US is significantly shorter than the two-year general license granted by the UK last week, and without it Rosneft’s German unit risks being cut off from key customers as of Nov. 21, the deadline established in the latest US sanctions package.
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On Friday, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was optimistic that both governments could find a solution to exempt the oil company from Washington’s latest sanctions.
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Germany’s economy ministry said it’s in contact with relevant US authorities and aims to clarify any legal issues as quickly as possible, but declined to comment on details of the talks. Rosneft Deutschland declined to comment.
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The US Treasury department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Berlin has so far steered clear of nationalizing the entities amid concerns that such a move could risk retaliatory measures by the Kremlin against German operations in Russia. In addition, there’s a risk that supply to the PCK refinery could be disrupted, with crude oil from Kazakhstan currently being delivered via the Druzbha pipeline that crosses through Russian territory.
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—With assistance from Kamil Kowalcze.
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English (US)