TBILISI, November 3 – Swiss-based trading company Gunvor has agreed to purchase the foreign assets of Russian oil major Lukoil, according to Reuters via BPN.
The deal comes just days after the United States imposed sweeping sanctions on Lukoil, Rosneft, and dozens of their subsidiaries.
Lukoil said in a statement that it had received and accepted Gunvor’s offer to acquire its European holding company, Lukoil International GmbH, which manages many of its overseas operations. Gunvor confirmed it was in talks with Lukoil over the acquisition, describing the negotiations as part of a potential asset transfer deal.
The sale marks a major shift for Russia’s second-largest oil producer, as Western restrictions increasingly force its companies to offload international assets. On October 22, Washington sanctioned both Lukoil and Rosneft, along with 34 of their subsidiaries where either firm owns more than a 50 percent stake. The blacklist includes Vienna-based Lukoil International GmbH, which wholly owns Lukoil Georgia and other regional branches. As a result, the sanctions also extend to those subsidiaries.
Gunvor, once the world’s largest trader of Russian oil, rose to prominence in the 2000s as a key player in exporting crude from Russia. The company was co-founded by Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko and Swedish national Torbjörn Törnqvist. Timchenko sold his shares in 2014 after being sanctioned by the U.S. for his ties to the Kremlin following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Since then, Törnqvist has become the firm’s majority owner.
As of 2024, Törnqvist holds 84.79 percent of Gunvor’s shares, while the remaining 15.21 percent is owned collectively by company employees. Gunvor’s current headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and it remains one of the world’s largest independent energy traders, dealing in oil, gas, and renewables.
