The Competition Council has not received any notification from Lukoil regarding a possible sale of assets in Romania. “This rumor is at least two years old”

The President of the Competition Council, Bogdan Chirițoiu, said on Saturday that the institution did not receive any notification from Lukoil regarding a possible transaction regarding the assets in our country, reports Agerpres.

“I haven't received until now. This rumor has been around for at least two years, I keep hearing that Lukoil is for sale, I keep getting questions. I haven't received during the whole period, I haven't received anything, no notification, nothing,” said the president of the Competition Council.

The official said that if the transaction is greater than 2 million euros, the notifications are submitted to the Commission for the Examination of Foreign Direct Investments (CEISD). The Competition Council, explained Chirițoiu, “comes into play” if the turnover of the parties involved was greater than 4 million euros in the previous year.

“The thresholds are not aligned. If at CEISD the transaction is over 2 million euros – it is a discussion to increase the threshold now, so one of the proposals from the business environment is to increase it to 4 million – but this is valid for the transaction. At the Competition Council we do not look at the value of the transaction, but at the turnover of the parties involved and the rule is that each of them has more than 4 million euros in the previous year and together they have more than 10 million euros”, said Bogdan Chirițoiu.

He explained why there are “a lot more transactions at CEISD”.

“We, the Competition Council, are looking at this: when company A – if it has sales, related to Romania, buys company B. CEISD also looks at when one company buys another, but it also looks at when a company invests, when it expands, an area where we do not look at competition. That's why there are many more transactions at CEISD. If at the Council we have 100 a year, at CEISD we had 500 last year”, he added Chirițoiu.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. In this context, according to Reuters, Lukoil announced on Thursday that it accepted an offer from trader Gunvor for the acquisition of Lukoil International GmbH (a 100% subsidiary of PJSC Lukoil), which owns the company's international assets.

Also on Thursday, Gunvor confirmed it was in talks with Lukoil to acquire the Russian oil group's international assets.

On the same day, the Romanian Ministry of Energy said that it had taken note of Lukoil's announcement and that it would “start a transaction evaluation process” within CEISD.

“We will be able to express a further position only after the complete clarification of the shareholding structure and the origin of the capital of any potential investor, to guarantee that the transaction is carried out in full compliance with the adopted sanctions packages and with Romania's economic security standards”, the Ministry of Energy also stated in the press release on Thursday.

Lukoil has been trying to sell the refinery in Romania for 10 years

In Romania, Lukoil's most important assets are the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery and the Lukoil Romania network, with approximately 320 distribution stations, both of which are owned by Litasco, based in Switzerland.

The Petrotel Ploiesti refinery has been for sale for almost ten years, but the investors were not interested. One of the causes is the fact that the refinery has outdated facilities and requires very large investments, an oil specialist explained to HotNews.

The company that operates the refinery, Petrotel – Lukoil SA, has not yet submitted its financial statements for 2024, the delay being almost five months.

Another company owned by Lukoil, Lukoil Romania SRL, which operates the gas station network, submitted its tax returns, showing a loss of 145 million lei in 2024.

Even Litasco SA Geneva Sucursala Bucharest, a company dealing with the wholesale trade of fuels, have not yet submitted their financial statements for 2024, the delay being almost five months. According to the data of the Ministry of Finance, the latest financial information is from 2023.

The legal deadline for submitting accounting balance sheets is May 31. The non-submission of the balance sheet by a large taxpayer may attract tax checks from ANAF, being considered a risky company.

All three companies are controlled by Litasco SA, the Swiss-registered crude oil and petroleum products trading division of the Lukoil group.