Swiss trading company “Gunvor” reported that it was withdrawing its offer to acquire the foreign assets of Russian energy company “Lukoil” after the US Treasury Department called it a "puppet of the Kremlin" and made it clear that Washington opposed the deal.
The company wrote about this in X.
They called the US Treasury Departmentʼs statement regarding “Gunvor” "fundamentally false".
“Gunvor has always been open and transparent about its ownership and business structure, actively distanced itself from Russia for over a decade, ceased trade in accordance with sanctions, sold Russian assets and publicly condemned the war in Ukraine. We welcome the opportunity to correct this misunderstanding. In the meantime, Gunvor is withdrawing its offer for Lukoil’s international assets,” the statement said.
In a statement on social media, the US Treasury Department noted that US President Donald Trump “has made it clear that the war must end immediately” and condemned “Gunvor”.
“As long as Vladimir Putin continues his senseless killings, the Kremlin puppet — “Gunvor” — will never receive a license to operate and profit,” the post says.
What preceded
The 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 have fallen, with Russiaʼs largest oil corporations losing a combined $5.2 billion. “Lukoil” shares fell 7.2%, resulting in a loss of $3.66 billion. “Rosneft” shares fell 3%, taking $1.56 billion with them.
After that, “Lukoil” reported that it had accepted “Gunvor” offer to sell its foreign assets.
This includes, in particular, oil refineries in Europe, shares in oil fields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico, as well as hundreds of gas stations around the world.
The decision of the US Treasury Department is crucial, as it is this department that can issue special permits or exemptions that allow transactions related to sanctioned companies to be carried out.
Even before “Gunvor” officially abandoned the deal, bankers and knowledgeable sources suggested that it would be very difficult to implement — it was too large-scale and beyond the companyʼs financial capabilities.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.