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US Proposes Six-Month Sanctions Reprieve for Rosneft’s German Arm to Aid Berlin’s Transition
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The US has proposed giving Germany a six-month reprieve from sanctions on Rosneft Deutschland, the German arm of Russia’s state oil giant, to allow Berlin time to resolve the company’s ownership impasse, Bloomberg reported on October 27.
According to officials familiar with the talks, Washington is considering a one-off, non-renewable general license that would temporarily shield Rosneft Deutschland from US restrictions.
Germany’s economy ministry is reviewing the proposal and plans to discuss it further at this week’s G7 Energy and Environment Ministers’ meeting in Toronto, according to Bloomberg.
The measure would prevent immediate disruptions to Germany’s refining sector but increases pressure on Berlin to find a long-term solution before its trusteeship over Rosneft’s assets expires in March 2026.
The German government seized the company’s holdings after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has repeatedly extended state control, though efforts to sell them—including talks with Qatar—have failed, Bloomberg stated.
Rosneft Deutschland owns stakes in three German refineries, including the PCK Schwedt plant near Berlin, which handles roughly 12 percent of Germany’s refining capacity, as well as a share in the Transalpine crude pipeline.
The proposed US waiver would last far less than the two-year license the UK issued last week. Without an exemption, the German unit could lose access to key customers after Nov. 21, when Washington’s latest sanctions package takes full effect, Bloomberg reports.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he remains optimistic that Germany and the US will agree on a way forward.
Berlin has resisted nationalizing the assets out of concern for Kremlin retaliation against German businesses operating in Russia and for maintaining oil supplies to Schwedt, which currently relies on Kazakh crude shipped via Russia’s Druzhba pipeline.
Previously, it was reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he plans to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington next week to discuss ways to shield Hungary from the impact of new US sanctions on Russian oil.
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