LUKOY - Lukoil U.S. P-E firm near deal to sell Sicilian refinery - report

Lukoil ( OTC:LUKOY ) ( OTC:LUKFY ) and U.S. private equity firm Crossbridge are near a deal to sell the Russian group's refinery in Sicily for less than €1.5B (~$1.58B), Reuters reported Thursday.

The Lukoil-owned site in Sicily refines 20% of Italy's crude, but the refinery, which has relied mostly on Russian crude in recent months, is now unable to take its mainstay feedstock after a European Union embargo came into force on Monday.

The Italian government has proposed a plan to place the plant in a trusteeship to protect jobs and domestic refinery capacity from the embargo, which has accelerated negotiations between Lukoil ( OTC:LUKOY ) ( OTC:LUKFY ) and Crossbridge, according to the report.

Any deal to sell the plant would be subject to scrutiny from the Italian government, which has the authority to block a sale if it would harm jobs or strategic production.

Lukoil ( OTC:LUKOY ) ( OTC:LUKFY ) was the only Russian oil producer to call for an end to the war in Ukraine .

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