Berlin Transfers Rosneft Subsidiary Under Control of Federal Network Agency of Germany

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The German government transferred Rosneft's subsidiaries — Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing — under the control of the Federal Network Agency, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said on Friday.

"Based on the law on energy security, the federal government today transferred Rosneft Deutschland GmbH (RDG) and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH (RNRM) under the control of the Federal Network Agency," the ministry said in a statement.

The reason for the transfer of Rosneft's subsidiaries is uncertainty on the energy market caused by "close ties" with Russia as well as sanctions imposed against Moscow, German regulatory office for electricity and gas Federal Network Agency said on Friday.

"The fiduciary management, ordered on the basis of the Energy Security Act (EnSiG), means that the original owner no longer has authority to issue instructions," the regulator said in a statement. "The fiduciary management ensures that business is continued in an orderly manner to stabilise the Rosneft group. The aim is to prevent refusal of services to the companies with ties to Russia from negatively impacting the ongoing business operations."

In April, German Federal Network Agency Head Klaus Muller said that the situation with Rosneft's subsidiary in Germany differs from that of Gazprom Germania, which was transferred under the agency's trusteeship in late March. On April 4, the German authorities took Gazprom Germania under temporary management, making the acquisition of the company without their permission by new investors invalid.

Following the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February, Berlin declared intention to reduce its reliance on Russian energy in the near future. Germany hopes to stop coal and oil imports from Russia by the end of the year and end its dependence on Russian gas by the middle of 2024.