Rosneft takes Odessa – local refinery to belong to Russia again

As the Kommersant has discovered, the state-owned Rosneft has discussed the purchase of the Odessa refinery that belongs to Vetek of Sergei Kurchenko. The plant was stopped last week and fell under control of VTB. The refinery, which was sold by Lukoil last year, isn’t very interesting actually and analysts call the deal political. But it may become just the first example of such change of owner – Russian banks credited Ukrainian business actively.

Rosneft is going to buy Odessa refinery from VTB, sources that are close to the bank told the Kommersant. According to them, agreements were achieved last week. Before the plant belonged to Vetek (Eastern-European fuel and energy corporation) of Sergei Kurchenko, who was considered to be close to family of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. According to the Kommersant’s interlocutors, Kurchenko, who had to leave the Ukraine after the shift in power in Kiev in February, understood that he wouldn’t be able to pay back the loan, received from VTB for the plant's purchase, and transferred the asset to the bank, preliminary agreed with Rosneft. The state-owned company hopes to conclude the deal with VTB in the near future, the Kommersant’s sources affirm. Rosneft and VTB declined to comment.