Lukoil to decide on Friday if they will close down Petrotel refinery in Ploiesti

Newsroom 08/10/2014 | 18:08

Vladimir Nekrasov, vicepresident of Refining and Marketing for Lukoil, said on Wednesday at Ploiesti that he reached an agreement with the Romanian prosecutors and by Friday the group’s management will decide if Petrotel will be closed down or not.

“It would be a shame to shut down the refinery. We invested a lot of money here”, Nekrasov said in a press meeting.

The Russian representative added that on Tuesday he met with the prosecutor assigned to the Petrotel case, with deputy PM Liviu Dragnea and with the delegate minister for Energy, Razvan Nicolescu.

“We understand full-well that they have no way of interfering with an investigation. They also regret that if the refinery is shut down, they will lose money”, according to Nekrasov.

The Lukoil VP believes the charges of tax evasion of EUR 230 million brought against the refinery are unfounded and so far he hasn’t seen a single document to prove them, “only general accusations”.

“We’ve reached certain compromises which I will report tomorrow to the Lukoil management. If they agree on restarting the refinery, we will. If not, then not. We believe the USD 700 million in taxes we’ve paid so far can stand in place of collateral (…) We believe the accusations are unwarranted. The people who are found guilty of these acts will be punished and from that point of view, we support the investigation wholeheartedly”, according to Nekrasov.

Finally, the Lukoil representative mentioned that Petrotel’s strategic reserves are currently under seizure: 100,000 tonnes of oil and 60,000 tonnes of gasoline and diesel fuel. Also under sequester: the refinery’s assets and Lukoil Romania’s debit for Petrotel.