Gunvor withdraws bid for Lukoil assets after U.S. opposition
Published on: Nov 7, 2025
Washington’s stance halts major energy deal amid tightening sanctions on Russian oil sector.
Swiss commodities trader Gunvor Group has abandoned its bid to acquire the foreign assets of Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, after the U.S. Treasury labeled the company a “Kremlin puppet” and indicated it would block the transaction.
The withdrawal derails what would have been Gunvor’s largest acquisition to date and highlights Washington’s efforts to curb Moscow’s access to global energy revenues amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In a statement posted on X, the Treasury said that President Donald Trump “has been clear that the war must end immediately. As long as Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a license to operate and profit.”
Gunvor’s corporate affairs director, Seth Pietras, rejected the characterization, calling the Treasury’s statement “fundamentally misinformed and false.” He added that the company “welcomes the opportunity to ensure this misunderstanding is corrected,” but confirmed that Gunvor had withdrawn its proposal to buy Lukoil’s international operations.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Lukoil in October, aiming to cut off one of Russia’s key sources of wartime revenue. The Moscow-based company faces a November 21 deadline to divest its foreign holdings, according to U.S. Treasury guidelines. Analysts warn that the limited timeline could force Lukoil to sell assets at a steep discount and complicate the repatriation of funds.
Lukoil’s portfolio includes refineries in Europe, stakes in oilfields across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, and Mexico, as well as hundreds of service stations worldwide. The U.S. Treasury retains authority to issue special licenses permitting transactions involving sanctioned entities, but no such authorization appears forthcoming for Gunvor’s bid.
