The buyer is the U.S.-based private investment group Carlyle Group, and the transaction is expected to be completed subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the United States government.
According to Lukoil, the deal involves the sale of LUKOIL International GmbH, the subsidiary overseeing the group’s international assets. Analysts estimate the total value of these assets at approximately $22 billion.
The Russian company clarified that completing the transaction requires, among other approvals, clearance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), due to the sanctions regime currently imposed on Russian energy groups.
It should be noted that both Lukoil and Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, have been under U.S. sanctions since last October, in response — according to Washington — to the slow progress of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
To date, the U.S. Treasury has blocked two previous Lukoil transaction attempts. The first concerned a deal with Swiss energy group Gunvor in October, while the second involved a proposed share swap arranged by Xtellus Partners, the former U.S. arm of Russian bank VTB, in December.
The U.S. Treasury has reportedly set a deadline of February 28 for Lukoil to sell its foreign assets, adding both urgency and significant timing pressure to the agreement with Carlyle Group.
