Vladimir Putin told the Lithuanian President.
Russia may buy the Mazeikiai oil refinery which the Poles had grabbed from under its nose several years ago. The matter was discussed at a meeting between Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. True, Russian companies are not overjoyed at the prospect of buying a Lithuanian plant because of its low profit margin.
Russia intends to buy the Mazeikiai oil refinery Orlen Lietuva from the Polish energy company PKN Orlen. The resumption of Russian oil supplies to the refinery would hinge on the success or failure of the deal, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said in an interview with Reuters after meeting Prime Minister Putin in Helsinki. The government press service confirmed to RBC Daily that Putin had indeed raised the issue of buying the Mazeikiai oil refinery during his meeting with the Lithuanian president.
A spokesman for the Lithuanian president, Linas Balsis, said that the sale of Orlen Lietuva was up to PKN Orlen and the government did not intend to interfere with the deal. Polish government officials said last week that they would not object to the sale of Orlen Lietuva.
The Prime Minister's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told RBC Daily that the buyer of the refinery is known, but refused to name it. Oil companies have not evinced any overt interest in the Mazeikiai oil refinery. LUKoil (which bid for the plant together with Rosneft and lost to the Poles in 2006) said the plant was attractive several years ago before it bought assets in the Netherlands and Italy. "The situation has changed and much will depend on the proposed terms of the deal," the company said.
TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft said they were considering all the assets put up for sale in Europe, but because "Orlen Lietuva has not officially been offered for sale, it is early days to speak about the chances of acquiring it." One of the above companies added that "if the government tells us to buy the plant", they will "have to do it".
The Polish PKN Orlen company denies being in negotiations with Russia on the sale of the Lithuanian oil refinery Orlen Lietuva. The company could not be reached by phone yesterday. At the end of last year the head of PKN Orlen, Darius Kravets, said that the sale of the Mazeikiai plant would be an extreme measure which, however, could not be ruled out.
Troika-Dialog analyst Valery Nesterov notes that during the time that the Poles owned the plant, they had failed to provide the infrastructure and conditions for supply that would make the enterprise turn a profit. The most likely contenders for the asset are thought to be government-owned Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz.
An FK Metropol analyst puts the value of the deal at about $2.5 million.
In addition to the Mazeikiai oil refinery, the Orlen Lietuva complex comprises the Butinge marine oil terminal and a system of pipelines. After the purchase of the asset in 2006, PKN Orlen bought the remaining 10% government stake to consolidate 100% of Orlen Lietuva in April last year.
Tatyana Milacheva