Lukoil has found a buyer for its international assets. The company has ties to Russia
Photo: EPA

Russian oil company Lukoil has agreed to sell its international assets to energy trading company Gunvor Group. About writes Bloomberg.

Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer, has decided to sell its foreign assets after being hit by US sanctions last week.

The company has accepted an offer from Gunvor to buy Lukoil International GmbH and has undertaken not to negotiate with other potential buyers.

The transaction is still subject to the approval of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other necessary approvals.

Gunvor has longstanding ties to Russia. One of its co-founders, Gennadiy Timchenko, was subject to US sanctions in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.

At the time, the American authorities claimed that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has an investment in Gunvor, but the company has consistently denied this. Currently, the majority of Gunvor is owned by another co-founder, Torbjörn Thornqvist, who is also its CEO.

Lukoil International GmbH, headquartered in Vienna, operates more than 100 subsidiaries in about 50 countries. It also includes the trading company Litasco, which operates from Geneva and Dubai.

Lukoil's foreign upstream assets include stakes in projects in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, the UAE, and a number of African countries. At the same time, they account for only about 5% of the company's total production.

One of the key assets outside Russia is the Iraqi West Qurna-2 field, in which Lukoil owns 75%.

In addition, the company has a network of more than 5,300 gas stations in 20 countries, including the United States, as well as several petrochemical plants in Europe.