Rosneft moves to become a key player in Germany’s fuel retail market

Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company, has announced it will spend hundreds of millions of euros to modernise its refineries in Germany as part of a plan to become a key player in the country’s fuels market.

Opening Rosneft’s new headquarters in Berlin, Germany,  last week, Chief Executive Igor Sechin revealed that it will invest about EUR600 million (USD668 million) in Germany.

At the end of December 2016, Rosneft and BP completed the deal on dissolving their refinery and petrochemical joint venture in Germany – Ruhr Oel GmbH. As a result of the restructuring of this joint venture, Rosneft became a direct shareholder and increased its stake in the Bayernoil refinery to 25% from 12.5%; in MiRO refinery – up to 24%, from 12%; and in the PCK refinery (Schwedt) to 54.17%, from 35.42%.

Rosneft has bundled its holding in Germany under a subsidiary called Rosneft Deutschland GmbH.

The new entity is said to be striving to enter the German market for automotive fuels with a chain of gas stations of its own. So far, it only supplies France’s Total, but Sechin said Rosneft hoped to acquire parts of their German network.

“We would like to develop our oil products supply business for German consumers; distribution networks, bunkering and jet fuel,” Sechin said at the opening of Rosneft’s representative office.