Lithuanian Railways (LTG), which has been transporting Russian oil giant “Lukoil” products in transit to the Kaliningrad region, has said it will comply with new US and UK sanctions and stop such shipments. The United States announced sanctions against “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” on October 23.
This is reported by the Lithuanian media LRT.
Last year, LTG transported a total of 371 thousand tons of oil products to the Kaliningrad region. Of these, 345 thousand tons were “Lukoil” products. This year, LTG transported 194 thousand tons of “Lukoil” oil to Kaliningrad and back. Rosneft oil was not transported through Lithuania either last year or this year.
US sanctions against “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” will come into effect on November 21. This means that the companies must complete or terminate their deals with them by that date. The United Kingdom has been applying similar sanctions since mid-October.
Since December 2022, the European Union has banned the transport of Russian oil products, except through pipelines. Lithuania has an exception for transit to the Kaliningrad region. Dsy allows the transport of goods that meet basic needs to the Russian exclave, and exclusively by rail.
Although EU sanctions apply to Russian oil, “Lukoil” operations in Europe have continued because the company is private and not subject to additional restrictions, such as “Rosneft”. However, in response to US sanctions, “Lukoil” announced the sale of its overseas subsidiaries to Swiss oil trading company “Gunvor”.
US sanctions against “Lukoil” and “Rosneft”
US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on “Lukoil”, “Rosneft", and their subsidiaries on October 23. The list includes more than 30 units of both companies, including oil fields, gas fields, and refineries across the country.
In just two days, the shares of both companies fell, with Russiaʼs largest oil corporations losing a combined $5.2 billion. In particular, “Lukoil” shares fell by 7.2%, resulting in a loss of $3.66 billion. “Rosneft” shares fell by 3%, taking $1.56 billion with them.
“Rosneft” and “Lukoil” account for almost half of Russiaʼs daily oil production. For example, “Rosneft” generates approximately 17% of Russiaʼs budget revenues.
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