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Николай Марченко

Николай Марченко е зам.-главен редактор на "Биволъ" от ноември 2022 г. Той е журналист, специализиран в икономически и международни теми. Работил е във в.“Сега“, бизнес портала LiveBiz.bg. Бивш кореспондент в София е на авторитетния руски в.“Коммерсантъ“.

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Latest posts by Николай Марченко (see all)

• Bivol’s findings - ignored for months
  

  Bivol exposed our secret weapons in Ukraine; Petkov and Ninova denied it

  - 19 January 2023
• Investigation by Bivol
  

  Burgas refinery of greater value to Lukoil than the one in Ploiesti. Are the Russians leaving Romania?

  - 9 January 2023
• Bivol on the world map of investigative media
  

  Bivol is now part of the Global Investigative Journalism Network

  - 13 December 2022

Lukoil is looking for buyers for their businesses in Romania and Moldova, Capital wrote on Monday quoting Balkan Insight. Based on information from the RuAssets registries, to which we have access via our partners at YouControl in Kiyv, as well as articles on Romanian media, Bivol found out that Lukoil’s monopoly in Bulgaria seems to be more highly prized by the company for the time being.

Lukoil is the third largest player on the Romanian fuel market, which is considered to be worth around 2.6 billion euro in total. The company’s net profits grew by 7% in 2021 – like Lukoil’s business in Bulgaria, its Romanian operations have benefited from the energy price spike, Capital say further in their article.

According to the weekly, Lukoil Moldova have around 20% of the retail market of fuel in the country. The company stands for about 40% of the import of diesel and 33.5% of the import of petrol in Moldova. They own the biggest network of petrol stations in the country – 105, which in 2021 made an overall profit of around 60 million Moldovan leu or 3 million euro.

Lukoil has been getting offers to leave Romania since 2015 (Image: ua.korrespondent.net / BBC Russian)

If Lukoil leave Romania, their assets will be acquired by Shell

According to SpyNews.ro, reports about the potential sale of Lukoil’s refineries in Romania and Bulgaria (after the one in Sicily was sold), are as yet unconfirmed. According to unnamed sources for the publication among Romania’s energy experts, over the next few months

the sale of the refineries is a „possible scenario“, with British company Shell considered as a potential buyer.

According to the sources, the idea is for Lukoil to take over Shell’s network of petrol stations in Russia, while the Brits get control of the Russian company’s facilities in Romania. Lukoil’s operations in the country consist of 315 petrol stations and the Petrotel Lukoil refinery in the city of Ploiesti.Lukoil’s assurances that they are not planning to leave Romania at least this year are contradicted by yet another announcement.

Litasco are to maintain their position as the national operator’s leading client at the oil terminal at Constanta Port in 2023, Romanian publication Profit.ro wrote in January. According to their article, Litasco and the state-owned Oil Terminal – Constanta have signed a contract for the current year to the amount of 55.85 Romanian leu (or about 11.3 million euro).

  
Lukoil Romania S.A. is an Austrian company? (Source: Bivol / RuAssets / YouControl) 

Second place in terms of contract value with the terminal is held by Austrian OMV Petrom (54.3 million leu). The contract between Oil Terminal and Litasco is for the

„offloading of crude oil from marine vessels and its delivery to the Conpet national pipeline grid

for supply to the refinery, offloading/loading of petrol, diesel, fuel oil, chemical and petrochemical products from/to marine vessels, river barges, tank cars, storage of crude oil and oil products”.

Lukoil continues to operate in Bulgaria and Romania from Geneva

Meanwhile on 21 October Romanian newspaper Adevarul quoted Swissinfo.ch, saying that Lukoil’s Geneva-based oil trader Litasco SA is to be split into two companies, the second of which will be in Dubai, with the Swiss office running the refineries in Romania and Bulgaria.

According to Romanian and Swiss media, Litasco West will also operate Lukoil’s minority share in the Zeeland oil terminal in the Netherlands, owned by TotalEnergies SE. According to the publications, in 2019 Litasco also sold around 4 million barrels of refined petrol products per day via its plants in Romania and Bulgaria, which makes it one of the biggest traders in the world.

At the same time the RuAssets database shows that up until the end of 2022 Lukoil Bulgaria assets were operated by Lukoil’s Dutch subsidiary Lukoil Benelux BV, while Lukoil Romania S.A. is registered in Vienna. Both companies responsible for Bulgaria and Romania are

registered at addresses in Rotterdam and Vienna together with scores of other Lukoil subsidiaries operating via the Swiss company Litasco SA.

Image: Lukoil Benelux (Source: Bivol)

This casts doubt on any promises that Lukoil is about to transfer all their taxable activities back to Bulgaria. Dubai seems to be a more attractive destination for most of the Russian corporation’s Swiss staff. So far there is no indication in the business registries or on Romanian and Swiss media of any relocation of assets to Bulgaria.

Lukoil’s assets in Bulgaria seem more attractive

Another Romanian publications, Playtech.ro, has looked into the rumours of Lukoil’s departure from the country. They quote a 2014  interview with Constantin Tampiza, CEO of Lukoil Romania SRL at the time, taken after Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Donbas and when the ensuing sanctions had already been imposed.

It is mentioned that Lukoil then sold their assets in Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary to MOL and Norm Benzinkut Kft, which according to the Romanian subsidiary’s CEO was a result of political developments, rather than a business optimisation. „If the conflict were to expand, I think the same would happen in other EU countries too, including Romania and Moldova – Lukoil would be forced to sell their assets”, Tampiza said at the time.

„Shares would tumble and the company leadership would have to take appropriate measures“.

The interview from the archives has caused a number of Romanian media to quote unnamed sources saying Lukoil might leave the country in 2023.

According to the Romanian publication, energy experts think Shell might return to the country, after leaving it in 2007, by acquiring Lukoil’s assets.

fri09tnd7gqaptgyfvvptun1bc9p0zImage:

 The search engine at https://lukoil.bivoil.bg shows which properties were sold to 
Lukoil at inflated prices by companies linked to GP Group

„As long as it is working at full capacity, the Petrotel Lukoil refinery remains an attractive asset but it is not what it used to be (in terms of significance – editor’s note). While the one in Burgas still is”,

the article says, quoting the experts. In their view, however, it is important how the Constanta port will develop over the next 10 years, as the leading oil industry player there is currently Lukoil, followed by OMV.

It should be noted that there were already rumours of the sale of Lukoil’s Romanian assets back in 2915, which the company’s vice president Robert Muller addressed by saying that

there are no plans being made to leave the market, although offers have been received for the acquisition of the company’s assets in Romania.

It happened at the time of the investigation and the searches of the company’s premises, including the refinery in Ploiesti. The damages to the Romanian state were then estimated to be around 230 million Romanian leu or around 50 million euro. Lukoil have previously been investigated multiple times for suspected cartel formation with other participants on the market, including a case in 2012 when the company was fined 40 million euro.

Coming soon – new findings by Bivol on the activities of Lukoil in Bulgaria.

о пререгистриране у нас, нефтогигантът все още управлява бизн

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