It is still too early to talk about the news of the sale of "Lukoil" to "Carlisle". "Lukoil" leaves a loophole for itself to negotiate with other companies and allows it to continue negotiations with the American company "Chevron". This was stated by the energy expert from the Center for the Study of Democracy Martin Vladimirov to BTV.
According to him, if it comes to the sale of the "Carlisle" refinery, it is not a question of direct or indirect Russian interests, news.bg reports. "This makes it a potential permission from the US Treasury Department, but nothing is ever known there, because this is a financial group that cannot operate the assets of "Lukoil" without the support of the major oil companies. This is the first step towards selling the refinery's assets to third parties," explained Martin Vladimirov.
According to him, it is likely that "Lukoil" will be sold refinery by refinery. When a company is under sanctions, it will not stop being under sanctions, even when it is sold, the energy expert specified.
Martin Vladimirov specified that "Lukoil" is retaining its assets in Kazakhstan, arguing that they are key in oil production for the country. "There may be a clash between the US and Ukraine on this axis - the sale of "Lukoil" assets," he said. Vladimirov does not rule out continuing the refinery's derogation after April.
He pointed out that there are other players in the region for the sale of "Lukoil", such as the Hungarian MOL.
Martin Vladimirov also said in conclusion that there are no concerns about a rise in fuel prices in our country.