Poland continues to demand that Germany derussify its Schwedt refinery

The Schwedt refinery (PCK) in Germany still has Russia’s Rosneft as a shareholder despite the Russian invasion on Ukraine. The Poles demand that Germans take action. “We look forward to a clear position and decisive legal and corporate solutions,” the Climate Ministry said.

“Poland maintains that derussification of European economies needs to happen, this includes in particular energy companies of key importance for fuel security,” the Ministry of Climate and Environment told BiznesAlert.pl. “In our opinion, it is urgent to introduce changes in the shareholding in the PCK refinery in Schwedt and exclude the Russian shareholder (the Russian company Rosneft Deutschland still owns 54 percent of the shares in PCK Schwedt),” reminded the Ministry.

“The German side, having the necessary legal capacity to implement the change, can take effective measures to improve energy security. We look forward to a clear position and decisive legal and corporate solutions regarding the above refinery,” the Ministry stated. “This is important not only for Germany, but also regionally, given the importance of this refinery for the fuel systems of other countries. Poland’s position remains consistent with the content of the signed Polish-German memorandum, in which both countries agreed that no joint action should bring direct benefits to the Russian government or companies controlled by it,” the Ministry statement explained.

“At the same time the Polish government will not comment on any business plans of any companies,” the Ministry of Climate said in response to media speculations about Poland’s Unimot being interested in the shares Shell owns at Schwedt. The media also speculated that the Polish Orlen could take the place of Rosneft. Discussions on this subject have so far failed.

The Schwedt refinery is under the control of the government in Berlin which has introduced a board of trustees after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and will keep it that way until 2024. Poles, however, are demanding the exclusion of Rosneft Deutschland from the shareholding, in which it owns 54 percent of the shares. The other shares are held by Shell, which plans to get rid of them.

Wojciech Jakóbik