The Romanian Custom Authority (AVR) confirmed that it invalidated the petroleum products wholesale trading licence held by the Swiss-registered subsidiary of Russian group Lukoi, Litasco, effective October 24, Profit.ro reported.

AVR confirmed on October 24 that it invalidated Litasco's licence. The decision was published in its monthly bulletin on November 15, but no more details about the specific legal grounds were provided. 

It is possible that the cause of the decision is a claim held by the Romanian state for due taxes claimed in court, which would smooth the resumption of operations provided the debt is settled. But if the decision is linked to the EU embargo on Russian oil, it would complicate much more resuming operations at Petrotel.

Petrotel refinery claims that it has used non-Russian oil since the end of last year. The refinery has found alternative fuel supplies, and its petrol stations will not be affected by a ban on Russian imports, former energy minister Virgil Popescu confirmed last December.

Lukoil's Swiss and Romanian subsidiaries were involved in several intricate lawsuits initiated by the local tax authority. The Romanian tax authority claims some €10mn supplementary profit tax for the financial year 2021. The amount is insignificant compared to the larger sums circulated in past lawsuits, but it might be large enough to justify withdrawing Litasco's trading license.

Litasco supplies crude oil to Petrotel, Romania's third-largest refinery owned by the Russian group, and delivers the refinery's petroleum products to the gas stations network across the country and possibly abroad. However, the Russian group never disclosed how much crude oil is Petrotel refining, where it is distributed and the origin of the petroleum products distributed on the local market. Lukoil operates a larger refinery in Bulgaria as well. 

In any case, pursuant to AVR's decision, the Russian oil group loses the capacity to distribute petroleum products from Petrotel locally or elsewhere and can't supply the Romanian refinery with crude oil. No other company in Lukoil's group holds a license for wholesale operations with petroleum products in Romania.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Petrorel.lukoil.com)