2025-11-06 22:23:00
Swiss commodity trading firm Gunvor has withdrawn its offer to buy the international assets of Russia’s Lukoil after the US Treasury declared it would “never” approve the deal, branding the company a “Kremlin puppet.”
The Treasury’s post on X cited President Donald Trump’s stance that the war in Ukraine must end immediately, saying Gunvor would not be allowed to profit while “Putin continues the senseless killings.”
Gunvor hit back, describing the accusation as “fundamentally misinformed and false.” The firm said it had long severed links with Russia, noting that its co-founder Gennady Timchenko — a close ally of Vladimir Putin — sold his 43.6% stake in 2014, days before US sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Gunvor stressed that it has “actively distanced itself from Russian trading for more than a decade” and condemned the war in Ukraine. The company had been in talks to acquire Lukoil’s European operations, including refineries in Bulgaria and Romania, a 45% stake in a Dutch fuel-processing plant, and about 2,000 petrol stations.
Lukoil said last week it had accepted Gunvor’s offer, pending US approval before its expected addition to Washington’s sanctions list on November 21. Gunvor’s withdrawal now effectively ends those talks.
