Berlin, Sep 17 : Germany has taken control of a major domestic refinery owned by Russian oil company Rosneft, the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) said.
Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing, two German subsidiaries of the Russian company, have been placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency.
The Agency will now take over the PCK refinery in Schwedt, by far the biggest fuel supplier of the country's capital Berlin, Xinhua news agency reported.
So far, the PCK refinery has been supplied with Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. However, due to the EU import ban on Russian oil next year, eastern German ports and a pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt are to be upgraded to create new transport routes for oil.
In addition, the German government has approached the Polish government to discuss potential supply routes through Poland.
With nearly 12 per cent of Germany's oil processing capacity, Rosneft Deutschland is one of the country's largest companies in this sector. The trusteeship is initially limited to six months.
Gazprom's German subsidiary has been placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency at the beginning of April.
Russia has repeatedly blamed the West's sanctions against it for the energy disputes. (1 euro $1)
/IANS