By Timothy Gardner and Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Swiss commodity trader Gunvor said on Thursday it has withdrawn its proposal to buy foreign assets of Russian energy company Lukoil after the U.S. Treasury called it Russia’s “puppet” and signaled Washington opposed the deal.
The move scuttles what would have been Gunvor’s largest acquisition and underscores Washington’s attempt to use sanctions to isolate Russia and choke revenues it uses to fight the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury said in a post on X that President Donald Trump “has been clear that the war must end immediately. As long as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a license to operate and profit.”
Seth Pietras, Gunvor’s corporate affairs director, said in an email that Treasury’s statement was “fundamentally misinformed and false” and it welcomed “the opportunity to ensure this clear misunderstanding is corrected.”
“In the meantime, Gunvor withdraws its proposal for Lukoil’s international assets,” Pietras said.
Treasury imposed sanctions on Lukoil last month in an effort to cut Russia’s revenues used in fighting the war.
LUKOIL RACES AGAINST TIME TO SELL FOREIGN ASSETS
The Moscow-headquartered company is under pressure to sell its foreign assets by November 21, a deadline imposed by the U.S. Treasury for companies to wind down their business transactions with Lukoil.
“Given the tight timeline, this could result in a significant discount during the sale process, as well as difficulties in repatriating funds,” analysts at brokerage PSB in Moscow said.
After the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Russia’s second-largest oil company in October, Lukoil said it had accepted an offer from Gunvor to buy its foreign assets.
The assets include refineries in Europe, shares in oilfields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico, and hundreds of retail fuel stations around the world.
Treasury’s input on the deal is important because it can issue licenses, or waivers, allowing transactions related to the sanctions.
“Lukoil may now focus on finding buyers for assets under sanctions — specifically those where it holds a stake of 50% or more, primarily refineries in Bulgaria and Romania, and oil projects in Iraq,” analysts at brokerage BCS said in a note.
Bankers and insiders had earlier said Gunvor’s biggest acquisition plan to date would be difficult to execute because it was far beyond the commodity trader’s borrowing capacity.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Reuters Moscow bureau; editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Jason Neely)
