The US postpones sanctions against Lukoil until 13 December to agree on the sale of assets
The US administration has decided to postpone the introduction of sanctions against Lukoil until 13 December, to avoid disrupting the sale of the company's assets.
This is reported by the Bloomberg.
The initial deadline was approaching 21 November, However, Washington decided not to «cut the cord» so that potential sale and purchase deals could be completed.
In parallel, another licence related to Lukoil's assets in Bulgaria, extended until 29 April.
Why sanctions were postponed
According to Bloomberg, the decision was prompted by the emergence of new customers, Among them:
companies from the USA;
European energy groups;
potential investors from the Gulf countries.
The US insists that Lukoil's assets fall under the non-Russian control, The company continued to operate in the market and did not create additional stress on global oil supplies.
Unsuccessful deal with Gunvor
A former favourite to buy assets, the company Gunvor, dropped out of the process after Washington effectively named her «Kremlin's puppet». This completely blocked her ability to complete the deal.
Context.
For several months now, the US has been preparing large-scale restrictions against Lukoil as part of its increased financial pressure on Russia.
We are talking about:
freezing of international assets;
a ban on transactions through the US financial system;
restrictions on operations in the oil sector.
The extension shows that Washington wants to soft transition, while maintaining political pressure on Moscow.
Ukrainian
English