Russian oil major condemns EU sanctions on Indian refinery, calls it a threat to the country’s economy
New Delhi: Moscow-headquarteredRosneft Oil Company on Sunday described the European Union’s (EU) latest sanction on Nayara Energy’s 20-million tonne refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat as “unjustified and illegal”.
“The Nayara Energy refinery is a strategically important asset for the Indian energy industry, providing a stable supply of petroleum products to the country’s domestic market,” the Russian state-owned energy major said in a statement on Sunday. “The imposition of sanctions against the refinery directly threatens India’s energy security and will have a negative impact on its economy.”
Rosneft also said that Nayara Energy–in which it holds 49% stake–will take steps to protect the interests of its shareholders and consumers. “We are counting on the fact that Nayara Energy will take measures to protect the legitimate interests of its shareholders and consumers, which will be supported by the governments of Russia and India,” it said.
Rosneft emphasized that it is not a controlling shareholder of Nayara Energy–the company’s share in the authorized capital of the enterprise is less than 50%. The enterprise is managed by an independent board of directors, it said.
EU sanctions
On Friday, in an attempt to target Russia’s ability to raise revenues from its oil and energy sector as it wages war with Ukraine, the EU unveiled sanctions on Nayara’s Vadinar refinery and also lowered the price cap on Russian oil by 15% to $47.6 per barrel from $60. Among other steps, it also imposed sanctions on more ‘shadow fleet ships’, which are largely used for moving crude oil from Russia.
Rosneft’s statement on Sunday further said that the EU’s grounds for imposing sanctions are completely far-fetched and false in content. Nayara Energy is an Indian legal entity whose economic activity is aimed at the development of its asset. The entity is taxed entirely in India, it said, while adding that Nayara Energy shareholders have never received dividend payments and the accumulated profits have been used exclusively for the development of the refinery and petrochemicals and the company’s retail network in India.
The statement added that these sanctions are examples of extraterritorial implementation of politically motivated restrictions that blatantly violate international law and infringe on the economic interests of a sovereign state.
To be sure, Nayara has the largest private sector retail fuel network of the country with about 6,500 fuel bunks, out of the total of about 90,000 petrol pumps in India–a market dominated by state-owned oil and gas companies.
The statement further said such actions of the EU demonstrate complete disregard not only for international law, but also for the sovereignty of third countries.
“Rosneft views these sanctions as part of the EU’s destructive policy aimed at destabilizing global energy markets. The restrictions on Nayara Energy are yet another example of the EU’s use of unfair competition practices,” said the Russian energy major.
The statement by the Council of European Union had also said on Friday: “The bloc will ban the import of “refined petroleum products made from Russian crude oil and coming from any third country – with the exception of Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States – thereby preventing Russia’s crude oil from reaching the EU market through the back door”.
Following the EU’s move, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, said in a statement late on Friday night that India does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures. “We are a responsible actor and remain fully committed to our legal obligations,” he said.
The MEA spokesperson said that the government of India considers the provision of energy security a responsibility of paramount importance to meet the basic needs of its citizens. “We would stress that there should be no double standards, especially when it comes to energy trade,” Jaiswal added.
