Despite having access to the Naftoport-Polish oil port in Gdańsk, the German side has not yet completely removed Russia’s stake from Germany’s Schwedt Refinery. On May 3, Germany’s “Task Force PCK,” which is dealing with the situation of the Schwedt Refinery (PCK), met for the fourth time.
Task Force PCK confirmed that the plant will receive 135,000 tons of oil in May through the Polish oil port of Gdańsk and more than 1 million tons of oil from Kazakhstan annually. The minister-president of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke, thanked PCK employees and expressed hope that the refinery’s capacity could soon increase to 70 percent from the current 50 percent.
The problem with Schwedt is that it is still more than 54 percent owned by the Russian company Rosneft Deutschland. The federal government currently manages these shares as a trustee, but there has been no expropriation, despite Germany being legally able to do so by citing national security.
The Polish side declared that they will not supply oil to Schwedt as long as Rosneft is the majority owner of the plant and demanded “de-Russification.” Back in December, Germany did not take Polish demands into account, expecting unconditional deliveries through the oil port.
The deputy minister of the German Ministry of Economy, Michael Kellner, reportedly told the local newspaper Märkische Oderzeitung that information on potential changes to the refinery’s ownership structure could be discussed at the next working group meeting before the summer holiday.
After the embargo on Russian oil came into effect, Germany had to find new suppliers for their refineries. One of the new sources of oil flowing to Germany is Poland. The agreement reached between Warsaw and Berlin allowed Germany to secure the important Schwedt refinery.
However, Polish help was conditional on pushing the Russians out as a shareholder. The majority shareholder of the refinery is still Rosneft Deutschland, a subsidiary of the Russian company Rosneft.
Reuters reported back in February that a potential investor that could take over the Russian shares is Polish energy giant PKN Orlen.
