The US is ready to give Germany a six-month period during which it must resolve the issue of ownership rights of the German assets of the Russian oil company Rosneft, writes Bloomberg.
Rosneft Deutschland may be issued a non-renewable limited general license that will temporarily exempt it from sanctions. German Economy Minister Katharina Reiche intends to discuss this at the G7 energy ministers meeting in Toronto this week, one of the agency's interlocutors said.
Rosneft Deutschland owns shares in three German refineries, which account for 12% of the country's oil refining capacity. At the same time, Rosneft Deutschland, along with another Rosneft subsidiary RN Refining & Marketing, has been under external trust management by the Federal Network Agency since 2022: Berlin deprived Rosneft of control over the companies, but ownership rights remained. Currently, these companies are not included in the US sanctions lists, but they could be subject to restrictions at any time.
The six-month period proposed by the US to Germany is significantly less than the two-year general license issued to companies in Germany by the UK government. London, shortly before the announcement of US sanctions, formally removed Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing from its restrictions, allowing UK-registered companies to do business with them.