Alcmene possible operator of Germany's Schwedt refinery -Handelsblatt

Verbio SE

23/05/2022 12:09

FRANKFURT, May 23 (Reuters) - Vienna-based Alcmene Group is
interested in taking over the partly Rosneft-owned  ROSN.MM  PCK
Schwedt refinery in eastern Germany, the Handelsblatt business
daily said on Monday.
    Alcmene tried to buy Shell's 37.5% share  SHEL.L  in Schwedt
last year but this was pre-empted by Rosneft which sought to
increase its holding above its 54% stake, a deal that was put on
hold this year by Berlin in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OK4GA
    Italy's Eni  ENI.MI  also holds a minority stake in
Schwedt. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2X52NV
    "We are prepared to take over the PCK Schwedt refinery
completely," Alcmene MD Raul Riefler was quoted as saying in an
interview published by Handelsblatt.
    Handelsblatt also said Leipzig-based biofuel company Verbio
 VBKG.DE  was interested in "refitting" the refinery. It said 
    Alcmene and Verbio officials were not available for
immediate comment. 
    PCK Schwedt is set to cut output as it stops using Russian
oil it receives via the Druzhba pipeline through Poland and as
the European Union plans to impose an embargo on Russian oil
imports in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Shell has
already stopped buying Russian oil.
    German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said his ministry
is working flat out to find alternative options for ownership
and logistics of the plant, which is an important supplier of
transport fuels to the region around the German capital of
Berlin. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OK4GA
    Non-Russian deliveries into the Polish port of Gdansk have
accelerated and Germany's Rostock port has also been earmarked
as an alternative to Russian pipeline oil. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2WW5FK
    Handelsblatt separately said that Verbio would be interested
in widening its biogas-based activities in the vicinity of the
refinery to turn the site into carbon-free operations in the
long run.

 (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Miranda Murray and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
 ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 2201 33654;
@EckertVera;))