Romanian prosecutors
said theyhave charged
Russian
group Lukoil's Romanian
refinery, Petrotel
Lukoil, several of its
managers and employees
andits majority owner,
Netherlands-based Petrotel Lukoil
Europe Holdings
Bvatrium,with money
laundering and tax
evasion.The damages are
estimated at a combined
7.6 billion lei, or 1.77
billion euro,the
Ploiesti court of
appealsaid in a
statement on Monday.
Last month,Romanian
prosecutors seized
assetsworth some 2
billion euro as part of
the investigation.The
assets belong to
Petrotel Lukoil and to
its majority owner,and
include bank accounts in
the UK and the
Netherlands, issue
premiums and shares in
Petrotel Lukoil.
Following the
announcement, Lukoil
denied the charges and
said it would appeal
thedecision.Lukoil's
vice president for oil
refiningThomas Mueller
saidthatLukoilhad no
intention of selling the
plant or closing its
Romanian refinery.
In October, Petrotel
Lukoilrefinery halted
operations for about a
weekafterprosecutors
and police raided its
offices and seized a
large amount of raw
materials as part of the
sameinvestigation. At
the time, damages were
estimated at 230 million
euro.
Petrotel-Lukoil
refineryis one of the
largest oil refineries
in Romania and Eastern
Europe. Russian company
Lukoil acquired it in
1998.
In 2014,Petrotel-Lukoil
refinery, located in the
southern city of
Ploiesti, reported a net
loss of 308 million lei
($76.8 million/70
million euro) on a
turnover of 6.46 billion
lei
Source:
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