Gunvor will become the buyer of the international assets of the under-sanctioned Russian company Lukoil, the Russian oil company itself announced on 30 October. “The key terms of the agreement were previously agreed by the parties,” Lukoil said in a statement.
Lukoil International GmbH, which owns the Russian oil company’s international assets, will be sold to Gunvor. The parameters of the deal were not specified in the statement.
“The sale of Lukoil International GmbH is related to the introduction of restrictive measures by certain states against PJSC Lukoil and its subsidiaries,” the press release said.
Gunvor was founded in 2000 by Torbjorn Tornqvist and Gennady Timchenko, who is considered one of the closest businessmen to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Gunvor has long been the largest seller of Russian oil abroad. The U.S. Treasury Department believed that Putin was directly involved in Timchenko’s activities in the energy sector, invested in Gunvor and may have had access to the company’s assets.
After Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, Timchenko sold his stake in Tornqvist to keep the company out of sanctions. The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
On 23 October, the US announced sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft, which are the largest exporters of Russian oil. The restrictions were imposed both against the companies themselves and 34 of their subsidiaries. If the counterparties of these legal entities do not curtail operations within a month, they will face secondary US sanctions. “Lukoil said after the sanctions were announced that it would sell its foreign assets.