Lukoil sells foreign assets to Swiss-based firm after punishing US sanctions

Russian energy giant Lukoil announced Thursday it will sell its international assets to a Swiss-based firm in response to crushing U.S. sanctions. 

Lukoil announced earlier this week it would quit its international operations after it was hit with sanctions by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a statement Thursday, the company said the sale of its portfolio, to Switzerland-headquartered energy trading firm Gunvor, “is due to restrictive measures of some states introduced against the Company and its subsidiaries.” 

Gunvor, which is based in Geneva, was co-founded by Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Timchenko sold his stake in the firm in 2014 when he was hit with sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Crimea. 

The U.S.’s sanctions, announced on Oct. 22, were “a result of Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine,” the U.S. Treasury said.  The package gave Lukoil and Russian oil and gas firm, Rosneft, along with their subsidiaries, just one month to shutter their businesses abroad or face hefty penalties.

Lukoil currently operates roughly 5,000 petrol stations worldwide, and together with Rosneft accounts for around two-thirds of Moscow’s crude oil exports.