On Tuesday, Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said that the U.S. government had provided written assurance that the German subsidiary of Russia’s Rosneft would be exempt from new energy sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control. The minister revealed that the U.S. issued a “Letter of Comfort” last night, acknowledging that Rosneft’s operations in Germany had been fully separated from the Russian parent company.
Rosneft’s German arm, which includes stakes in the Schwedt, MiRo and Bayernoil refineries, was put under government trusteeship in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For this reason, 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.
So far, however, Berlin has shied away from nationalising Rosneft’s activities, opting instead to maintain de facto control via a trusteeship that still leaves legal ownership in Russian hands.
