Sanctions are obstacle to Rosneft in Italy: negotiations with Saras are suspended
Western sanctions have jeopardized Rosneft’s plans to create its own oil trading company. After the company came under U.S. sanctions, negotiations about the creation of trading joint venture were suspended by the Italian Saras, and rapid completion of the transaction for the purchase of trading subdivision of Morgan Stanley looks unlikely. According to sources of the Kommersant and analysts, if sanctions are not tightened,the implementation of Rosneft’s projects can be slowed down, but the company is unlikely to give up on it.
The creation of trading joint venture of Rosneft and the Italian refining company Saras has been postponed because of the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West, the executive director of Saras, Dario Skaffardi said on Friday. The companies agreed to establish a joint venture on trading of oil and oil products in June 2013, it was assumed that it would work this year after all approvals. At the same time, at the end of 2013, Rosneft began the negotiations on the purchase of the oil trading subdivision of the American investment bank Morgan Stanley to create its own trading company on its basis. As a result, there was a problem of coordination of the two transactions, which required more time. "In recent months, we have been negotiating with Rosneft and Morgan Stanley to find ways to achieve the integration," - said Mr. Skaffardi. "Of course, these negotiations were suspended in recent weeks because of the general political situation," - he said, added that Saras didn’t abandon the transaction and expected that "some solution will be found in the coming weeks". Rosneft declined to comment.