The Bundestag allowed the sale of Rosneft assets in Germany without nationalization

The lower house of the German parliament approved amendments to the law on energy security, should from the voting results published on the website of the Bundestag. How notes Reuters, the changes will allow the sale of Rosneft’s stake in the refinery (refinery) in Schwedt without nationalization.

382 deputies voted for the adoption of the amendments, 272 voted against. Previously, German law provided for the preliminary nationalization of assets if the country’s energy security depends on them. This rule has now been abolished.

Deutsche Welle writesthat the factions of the ruling parties – the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Soyuz-90 / “Greens” – were in favor of changing the legislation in this part.

Opposition parties opposed such amendments. During the debate in the Bundestag on this issue, the CDU / CSU bloc pointed out that the document lacks clear boundaries and concepts that would outline the legal framework. “Rosneft“will check the compliance of the law with constitutional, European and international law,” Malmendier Legal, a law firm hired by Rosneft, said. Reuters writes about it.

“The so-called transfer of assets is nothing but expropriation,” lawyer Bertrand Malmendier told Reuters.

In September 2022, the German government ordered the state-owned Federal Network Agency to transfer minority stakes owned by Rosneft in two refineries and a controlling stake (54.17%) in the refinery in Schwedt, which is focused on deliveries via the Druzhba oil pipeline, to the state-owned Federal Network Agency for six months. The company challenged the decision to impose external management on Rosneft Deutschland GmbH (RDG) and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH (RNRM), but the court dismissed its claim.

In March 2023, external management was extended for another six months. This week “Rosneft” filed a lawsuit against the extension of the trust by Berlin and demanded compensation for financial losses.

Rosneft accounts for about 12% of German oil refining capacity, which “makes it one of the largest oil refining companies in Germany,” Vedomosti wrote. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier that the decision to introduce external management is being introduced temporarily. Nevertheless, the company emphasized that they see in the decision of the German government “a violation of all the fundamental principles of a market economy, the civilizational foundations of a modern society built on the principle of inviolability of private property.”

According to Valery Andrianov, an expert at the InfoTEK analytical center, Western countries, without any reason, “actually began to confiscate Russian assets.” “The transfer of assets of companies held in trust is a public administration tool that serves to prepare for an energy supply crisis. The real goals of the bill have nothing to do with the legal goals of ensuring the security of energy supply,” he said. The conflict in Ukraine is “used to promote an alternative political energy agenda,” the expert noted, as well as to impose sanctions against the Russian economy.