Berlin The group of potential buyers for the PCK Schwedt refinery is growing. According to information from industry circles in the Handelsblatt, the Lower Saxony mineral oil company Hoyer is interested in joining the Brandenburg refinery.
Wilhelm Hoyer GmbH & Co. KG, based in Visselhövede on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath, is a family company that claims to have over 2,200 employees at more than 60 locations. Hoyer operates more than 200 of its own filling stations and truck stops and supplies end customers and trading partners with diesel, heating oil, petrol, liquid gas and wood pellets. A request from the Handelsblatt to Hoyer has so far remained unanswered.
The 37.5 percent stake in PCK Schwedt, which is currently held by the Shell group, is up for sale. The majority owner of the refinery, with a 54 percent stake, is Rosneft Germany, the subsidiary of the Russian oil company Rosneft, which is under trusteeship by the Federal Network Agency. With its refinery, the joint venture PCK was the last remaining delivery point in Germany for Russian oil. The federal government placed Rosneft Germany under its trusteeship to take away direct Russian influence over PCK.
Rosneft’s 54 percent stake could now also be sold very soon: On Wednesday, the federal cabinet passed an amendment to the Energy Security Act (EnSiG), which is intended to make it easier to sell shares in companies that are under trusteeship.
According to the EnSiG, such a sale is currently only permitted if it is necessary to maintain the value of the company. In future, a sale should also be permitted “to ensure the functioning of the community in the energy sector and to maintain security of supply”.
Expropriation should become superfluous
The advantage of this solution for the federal government: It could formally remain with the trusteeship. An expropriation, which would raise many legal questions in the Rosneft Germany case, would be superfluous. Even the trust administration is met with criticism. Rosneft is therefore suing the federal government. The trial before the Federal Administrative Court will start on February 22nd.
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The draft for the planned amendment to the EnSiG is now being voted on within the federal government and should be decided quickly. This would create the basis for selling Rosneft Germany’s stake in PCK Schwedt quickly.
There are already interested parties who would take over both the Shell shares and the Rosneft Germany shares: “The Alcmene Group is still interested in PCK. We also stand by our plans for the green transformation of the site. We also believe in PCK’s long-term economic viability,” said Raul Riefler, Managing Director of the Almene Group, to the Handelsblatt.
According to the company, both a full and a partial takeover are possible. In view of the sensitive nature of the project, however, no information can be given on the status of discussions with the various stakeholders. Alcmene operates four oil terminals in the Tallinn region of Estonia and had already offered to be a buyer months ago.
The energy company Enertrag SE from the Brandenburg town of Dauerthal had also been brought up for discussion. The biofuel company Verbio is currently no longer interested. Verbio boss Claus Sauter told the Handelsblatt that there had been no talks for months. Although his company is available to transform PCK into a “green refinery”, it is not available to operate a conventional refinery.
In the event that the federal government pushes Rosneft Germany out of the refinery via the planned new regulation of the EnSiG, the Polish state oil company Orlen should have increased interest in getting involved again, according to industry insiders.
It is unacceptable for the Poles to take a stake in the refinery as long as Rosneft Germany, a subsidiary of a Russian company, is the majority shareholder.
The federal government has been negotiating with Poland for months
Poland plays a key role in the future of the Schwedt refinery site. For decades, PCK Schwedt was almost 100 percent supplied with crude oil from Russia via the “Druschba” (“Friendship”) oil pipeline. Last year, however, the federal government voluntarily decided, independently of the sanctions decided on at EU level, that from January 2023 no more Russian pipeline oil could be imported into Germany.
>> Also read here: Poland is putting pressure on Berlin: expropriation of Rosneft Germany is getting closer
Replacement oil is now obtained via the oil pipeline that runs from the port of Rostock to Schwedt. However, the capacity of the pipeline is not sufficient for the complete utilization of the refinery. According to information from the industry, capacity utilization is currently only less than 60 percent. Utilization must not fall far below this value, as this could jeopardize the operation of the pipeline. The Federal Ministry of Economics had emphasized in the past few months that a workload of 70 percent was also desirable to keep the jobs.
The federal government has therefore been negotiating with the Polish side for months about being able to use the Polish port of Gdansk and the associated pipeline infrastructure. So far there have only been trial deliveries. Insiders say that as soon as Rosneft Germany no longer has a stake in the Schwedt refinery, things could take an abrupt turn for the better.
However, Shell is convinced that the question of capacity utilization is currently overrated. “In the public debate about PCK, the impression is given that a utilization of 70 percent is absolutely necessary. However, that is only partially the case,” said a Shell spokeswoman. “Of course, the current 60 percent utilization is not sufficient in the long term. But it is temporarily completely fine, it only reflects the market conditions,” she said.
The government also wants to procure oil from Kazakhstan to ensure utilization of the Schwedt refinery.
(Photo: dpa)
At the same time, oil is to be procured from Kazakhstan to ensure the refinery’s capacity utilization. In the “future pact” published by the Federal Ministry of Economics on September 16, 2022 to secure the PCK Schwedt site, it is stated that the federal government will continue its talks with the Kazakh government with high priority.
In government circles it is now said that it is up to the companies to conclude supply contracts in Kazakhstan. Concrete results are expected in February. In industry circles it is said that the negotiations are not easy. Kazakhstan does not want to alienate Russia. Russian pipeline infrastructure must be used for the pipeline transport of Kazakh oil to Western Europe.
An insider reports that the signals from the Russians on this issue are ambiguous and unreliable. Relying on Russia on this issue is breakneck. “When you have to beg for oil, you can’t be picky,” said another.
Another possibility to increase the capacity utilization in Schwedt is a fundamental renewal of the pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt. In September’s “Pact for the Future”, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology promised to finance an “upgrade” of the pipeline: “The scope of the construction measures is expected to be around 400 million euros, and 100 percent funding from the federal government is planned,” it says.
Withdrawal of the traffic light from the pipeline construction causes resentment
But the federal government no longer feels bound by this. A 100 percent financing is not possible for reasons of state aid law. In addition, it is expected that the mineral companies will also participate in the project, according to government circles. The willingness of the companies is not recognizable. However, potential buyers are signaling this willingness: One could “imagine giving us a financial stake in the construction of a new pipeline,” said Alcmene Managing Director Raul Riefler.
The federal government’s withdrawal from the construction of the pipeline caused considerable resentment among the employees at the refinery in Schwedt. In a letter from the employees to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), which is available to the Handelsblatt, it is said that one is surprised to learn that the federal government has now decided against the new construction of the pipeline. The government’s waiver of Russian pipeline oil was voluntary. The federal government is now obliged to protect the Schwedt site from the consequences of this waiver.
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