Public Joint Stock Company Rosneft Oil Company (MISX:ROSN) is said to have offered to initiate the sale of its German subsidiary, newspaper Handelsblatt reported on February 9, 2024. According to insiders cited by the paper, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin wrote a letter to the ministry of economy, Robert Habeck, and other government officials, proposing the divestment. When asked by Handelsblatt, the ministry told the paper it knew nothing about the existence of such a letter.

The report comes just after Rosneft?s law firm Malmendier Legal said on February 8, 2024 that the economy ministry is considering expropriating shares in the local subsidiaries of the Russian energy giant. Rosneft?s German business was put under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency in 2022 in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict. The trusteeship, which has been extended several times, runs until March 10.

Rosneft Deutschland GmbH owns a 54.17% shareholding in Germany?s key refinery PCK Raffinerie, which has a processing capacity of 11.6 million tonnes of crude oil per year. According to its website, the German arm also holds stakes in other local refineries, including a 24% interest in MiRo and a 28.57% shareholding in Bayernoil.