Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bologian said last night that if a commercial solution is not found, it will be very difficult for “Lukoil“ to operate in Romania after the entry into force of the sanctions imposed by the US government, reports Agerpres, BTA reported.
“We are in a situation where, if a commercial solution is not found, “Lukoil“s activities in Romania will be very difficult to implement, because any company that works with “Lukoil“, if the financial flows are not clearly separated, will be subject to these sanctions. And keep in mind that we have important companies that work with “Lukoil“, such as “Romgaz“, which is a partner of “Lukoil“ in a project in the Black Sea region, and in addition, we have hundreds of companies that supply various goods to their networks (…)“, the Romanian Prime Minister commented last night on “Euronews Romania“.
He called for waiting until next week and seeing what decisions will be taken at a global level, mainly by the US.
The Romanian Prime Minister also pointed out that this problem should not lead to an increase in fuel prices in Romania.
“There should not be such situations, because the refinery, which belongs to “Lukoil“ in Romania, is currently closed, so it is not working, and the share of “Lukoil“ is significant, but not enough to cause serious problems“, said Bologhian.
According to him, there are nevertheless disturbances in one form or another, direct or indirect, which disrupt certain markets in the region. The Romanian Prime Minister gave an example in this regard with Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova.
On October 23, the US imposed sanctions on the Russian oil companies “Lukoil“ and “Rosneft“ to increase economic pressure on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
The Romanian government has rejected the possibility of postponing US sanctions, which are due to take effect on November 21, and said it is working on a law that would allow it to take control of the “Petrotel-Lukoil” refinery, which has a refining capacity of approximately 2.5 million tons per year, and the Russian company's network of 320 gas stations in Romania.