The new Italian government headed by Giorgia Meloni placed on Thursday under “provisional administration” of the State a refinery of the Russian oil giant Loukoil located in Priolo in Sicily, in order to avoid its closure and guarantee the continuity of the national energy supply. said a government source.
The ISAB refinery controlled by Loukoil, one of the largest in Europe, ran the risk of having to stop production due to the entry into force on December 5 of the European Union embargo on the importation of Russian crude oil by sea. .
The “provisional administration” is scheduled for a maximum period of 12 months, the government source said. The Council of Ministers has adopted a decree to this effect.
By placing the refinery under supervision, Rome is following the example of Berlin, which in September took control of the activities in Germany of Russian oil group Rosneft, which runs many refineries there.
“It’s a temporary solution”
The survival of the ISAB refinery is at stake as it has been reduced to supplying 100% Russian oil, compared to 10-15% before the war in Ukraine. Fearing sanctions, European banks had stopped financing him and providing him with the guarantees he needed to import oil from other countries.
The ISAB refinery has an annual refining capacity of ten million tons of crude up to 14 million tons and supplies about 20% of the national needs.
“The trust solution will be used to find potential buyers, without necessarily excluding the path of nationalization,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
