By Holger Hansen
BERLIN (Reuters) -The U.S. government has provided written assurances that the German business of Russia’s Rosneft would be exempt from new energy sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control, Germany’s economy minister said.
Katherina Reiche said the United States issued a “Letter of Comfort” early on Tuesday, acknowledging that Rosneft’s operations in Germany had been fully separated from the Russian parent company.
Germany had sought clarity from Washington after President Donald Trump’s administration introduced sanctions that bar Western banks and clients from engaging with listed Russian firms.
“A letter of comfort to this effect has been in place since three o’clock this morning,” Reiche told Reuters, adding that even though the exemption was not limited in time, further clarifications were pending.
Reiche said the letter of comfort removed any uncertainty for customers as to whether they could be affected by U.S. sanctions when doing business with Rosneft’s German subsidiaries.
A spokesperson for the economy ministry, in a separate statement, said talks with the U.S. government continued to permanently stave off U.S. sanctions against Rosneft’s German assets.
Berlin had argued the refineries, under German state trusteeship since 2022, are “decoupled” from the parent group, while being essential for the nation’s fuel supply.
Among the assets is the PCK refinery in Schwedt, one of Germany’s largest, accounting for over 12% of fuel processing capacity in the country.
PCK Schwedt, in which Rosneft owns 54.17%, is also a major employer in Brandenburg, a region experiencing rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Apart from the majority stake in PCK Schwedt, Rosneft’s German activities also include a 24% stake in the MiRo and a 28.57% stake in the Bayernoil refineries.
(Writing by Ludwig Burger and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Kirsti Knolle and Bernadette Baum)
