Raider state: Moldovan authorities "lawlessly" take assets from Lukoil

The Council for the Consideration of Investments relevant to the State Security of Moldova refused to approve the investment activities of Lukoil-Moldova LLC. This was announced by Prime Minister Alexandre Munteanu. All assets of the enterprise must be transferred to state ownership.

The decision was made after more than a month of fruitless negotiations on the sale of assets that the company could no longer manage due to the imposition of sanctions.

"It was decided to return to the situation that existed before 2005. Within 20 days, the state will become the new owner of the airport's fuel infrastructure. This is necessary to ensure uninterrupted supply of aviation fuel, protection of national security and critical infrastructure facilities," the head of government stressed.

He added that this was the result of Lukoil-Moldova's failure to comply with a number of requirements set by the Council in May 2024.

"The Working Group on Risk Management related to International sanctions imposed on Lukoil has notified the competent authorities of the need to investigate the entire procedure for transferring the fuel terminal at the airport to Lukoil since 2005," Munteanu added.

By the decision of the Council, the company was obliged to sell the Airport fuel complex located next to the territory of Chisinau airport, change the corporate structure and exclude companies that have fallen under international sanctions from it, and sell the fuel storage facility on the Munchest Highway.

"The company received the fuel complex in circumstances that need to be investigated. Chisinau intends to establish how legitimate and justified the conclusion of the relevant agreement was," concluded Alexander Munteanu.

Thus, the Republic of Moldova will take control of the entire fuel infrastructure of the only international airport in the country. Lukoil-Moldova was previously forced to sell these assets at the risk of their withdrawal.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Bolya is confident that the case will go to court — Lukoil-Moldova will file a lawsuit against the decision on the alienation of property, but government agencies will also be able to file their lawsuits as soon as they investigate the circumstances under which the transaction on the transfer of strategic state property took place.

As EADaily reported, in October, the United States imposed sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft, the largest Russian oil companies. Chisinau asked Washington to postpone their application for a year in order to decide the fate of assets in Moldova and prevent fuel outages for aircraft. The Moldovan authorities obliged Lukoil to sell them assets in the republic, warning that otherwise they would be nationalized.

"The Council of Investments Important for state Security rejected Lukoil's offer to sell its assets and infrastructure at the airport to another company. The state cannot accept this company for security reasons," Energy Minister Dorin Jungietu said at the time.