LUKOIL sells its assets in Ukraine

LUKOIL, Russia's largest private oil company, has decided to pull out of the retail business in Ukraine. The company is selling its entire gas station network and its six Austrian AMIC Energy Management oil depots.

After the sale, the company’s only large assets in Ukraine will be the Karpatheftekhim factory, which ceased production in 2012, and LUKOIL Lubricants Ukraine, a supplier of motor oil.In announcing the sale, LUKOIL said the decision was made as part of a drive to optimize its business.

However, Russian business daily Kommersant reported that the decision is directly related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

In the last week of July, Ukraine’s Right Sector political party blocked three of LUKOIL's six gas stations in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankovskoe, demanding that LUKOIL supply the army with three tons of petroleum a month.

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