The US has refused to grant the international oil trading company Gunvor permission to purchase the foreign assets of Russia’s largest private oil and gas company – Lukoil.
“President [Donald] Trump has made it clear that the war [in Ukraine] must end immediately. As long as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin continues his absurd crimes, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never receive a license to operate and profit,” stated the US Treasury Department.
About an hour later, Gunvor announced that it was withdrawing its offer to acquire the international assets of Lukoil. Gunvor representatives described the US Treasury’s statement as “completely misleading and false,” stating that “Gunvor has always been transparent about its shareholders and activities, has actively distanced itself from Russia over the past ten years, has complied with sanctions, sold Russian assets, and publicly condemned the war in Ukraine.”
The US imposed sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies – Rosneft and Lukoil – as well as their subsidiaries, on October 22. A week after this decision, Gunvor – founded in 1997 by Swedish businessman Torbjörn Törnqvist and Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Vladimir Putin – announced that it intended to acquire the international assets of Lukoil. This involved dozens of extraction, refining, and retail fuel sales companies in 11 countries, with a total estimated value of about 21 billion dollars. To finalize the transaction, Gunvor needed the approval of the US Treasury.
Details, HERE