Gunvor gave up on acquiring "Lukoyl" assets

Gunvor Group Ltd, an international oil trading company registered in Cyprus, has been reported by Zamin.uz.

Russia’s major private oil and gas corporation “Lukoyl” announced that it has abandoned plans to purchase its foreign assets. The company made this statement on its official page on November 6.

Gunvor’s decision became known shortly after the US Department of the Treasury issued a strong statement against the company. US officials accused Gunvor of maintaining ties with Russia and stated that the company would not be granted a license to operate until the war in Ukraine ends.

The official statement condemned Russia’s aggressive policy and emphasized the continuation of sanctions. Gunvor, in turn, denied these accusations and reminded that it severed ties with Russia ten years ago.

The company stated that it has always provided transparent information about its activities and owners, condemned the war in Ukraine, and strictly complied with international sanctions requirements. Nevertheless, Gunvor officially withdrew its offer to purchase Lukoil’s foreign assets.

It should be noted that Lukoil is one of Russia’s major private companies and has been sanctioned by the US and the UK. Earlier, on October 30, Lukoil had reported an agreement with Gunvor to sell foreign business.

However, this deal was regarded by the international community as an attempt to circumvent restrictions imposed on Russian companies. Looking back at Gunvor’s history, the company was founded in 2000 by Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko and Swedish businessman Torbjörn Törnqvist.

In 2014, before international sanctions came into effect due to the annexation of Crimea, Timchenko sold his share to his partner and left the company. After that, Gunvor announced that it had sold all its assets in Russia.

Recently, the US and the UK have imposed new sanctions on Russian companies. These measures included Lukoil, Rosneft, and their subsidiaries.

London considers these companies as strategic economic pillars of the Russian government and applied asset freezes and other restrictions against them. As a result of international pressure, the agreement between Gunvor and Lukoil did not materialize.

This situation further intensifies the isolation of the Russian economy within the global system and once again proves the effectiveness of the international sanctions policy.