Russian Lukoil withdraws from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland after boycott

Lukoil sells out its gas stations' networks due to "anti-Russian attitudes," tvn24bis.pl reports. The companies Holding LUKOIL BV and AMIC Energy Management GmbH signed on 5 February a contract about selling approximately 230 gas stations in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the press service of Lukoil states. The stations are expected to be bought by an Austrian company. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2016. The prior acceptance of the organs responsible for protection of competition in those countries is obligate. Due to the signed contracts, the networks in Lithuania and Latvia will now be managed by UAB Luktarna and AS VIADA Baltija – companies associated with the top management of UAB Lukoil Baltija company. The decision about sell out of the networks was made in the framework of the optimization program. "It became an obstacle for business, we started losing money, we felt negative attitude towards ourselves," Vagit Alekperov told in an interview Rossija-24. Russian oil entrepreneurship Lukoil have announced sell out of the networks in Lithuania and Latvia due to "ruling anti-Russian attitudes in those countries". Earlier, in 2014, Lukoil has sold its networks in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The Poles have been boycotting Russian Lukoil since the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014.