Romania will stand in solidarity with the United States and other EU member states to implement the sanctions that must be applied to Lukoil, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared on Friday.
A regulatory act regarding these sanctions will be made public on Monday, the prime minister said in a press conference at Victoria Palace.
"There are two aspects. The deadlines come into force on different dates. For the Lukoil refinery, which is on a certain legal entity, it comes into force now. The refinery is under maintenance. According to the assessment of energy experts, there are practically sufficient stocks in the current and future period for the supply of gasoline and diesel to function without this refinery being in operation. Therefore, Romania will stand in solidarity with the US and the other EU countries to put these sanctions into practice", said Bolojan.
As for the gas station network, the deadline for the entry into force of the sanctions is mid-December. The network has a share of over 20% of the number of gas stations in Romania, the prime minister mentioned.
"We expect that by then the negotiations between the possible buyers of this gas station network and the owner Lukoil will be carried out. There is a normative act that we will publish in transparency on Monday, which is in an advanced phase, through which Romania establishes a sanctions mechanism, which completes the current framework we have, which allows us to impose sanctions only for decisions that are taken by the European Union countries, so that next week it will be adopted. Depending on the evolution of the situation, we will decide in December whether this mechanism will be activated or not", indicated the prime minister.
According to him, the activation of any mechanism must take into account the realities of the market. He drew attention to the fact that Bulgaria has a "total dependence" on the Lukoil refinery in Burgas.
"The mechanism we have means supervising the activity, in such a way as to ensure that the businesses of these companies are carried out independently and that the money that is collected or the financial flows do not go to Russia. Regarding the collaboration between Lukoil and Romgaz, on the exploitation and exploration component in the Black Sea, we have taken the necessary measures so that Romgaz is not in a situation to be affected by these sanctions", Ilie Bolojan added.
President Nicusor Dan stated on Friday, about the sanctions to be applied to Lukoil, that for the moment there is a postponement until December 13, and during this period the Government will take measures, noting that the refinery is not functioning, it is under maintenance and "nothing dramatic will happen" in the coming weeks.
In late October, the United States added Russia's two largest oil producers, Lukoil and Rosneft, to its sanctions list, a move monitored by many countries and feared by the business world. Companies that do business with Russian entities risk secondary sanctions that would cut off their access to American banks, traders, transporters and insurers - the backbone of the commodities market.
In Romania, Lukoil owns the Petrotel refinery and sells fuel through a network of 300 distribution stations.
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