Germany Weighs Nationalization of Rosneft’s German Unit After U.S. Sanctions

Germany is considering taking full control of Rosneft’s German subsidiary following new U.S. sanctions against the Russian oil giant.

The Gaze reports this, referring to Reuters.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday issued a temporary license exempting Rosneft Deutschland from sanctions until April 2026. 

However, Berlin is assessing broader options – from securing a lasting exemption to confiscating the company’s local assets and selling them to a foreign investor, two sources familiar with the discussions told the agency.

Rosneft Deutschland holds a controlling stake in the Schwedt refinery, which supplies the majority of fuel to the Berlin area, and also owns shares in the MiRo and Bayernoil refineries. 

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, these assets were placed under trusteeship, effectively giving the German government operational control.

The trusteeship arrangement, renewed every six months, is legally sensitive and subject to court review. German authorities have so far avoided full expropriation, fearing that it could trigger compensation claims from Moscow.

Rosneft has been seeking to sell its German operations since March 2024 but has failed to find a buyer.

Michael Kellner, a Green Party lawmaker in the Bundestag, urged the government to end the uncertainty by nationalizing the assets outright. 

“It is systemically important for Germany. The government needs to nationalise Rosneft's business in Germany in order to have certainty over its future,” he told Reuters.

As The Gaze previously informed, on October 23, the U.S. has imposed a new round of major sanctions targeting Russia’s energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil, in response to Moscow’s continued reluctance to engage seriously in peace efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.