Gunvor's withdrawal of Lukoil's international asset purchase proposal was announced on November 6 after the US Treasury Department announced that it would never approve the deal.
In a notice on social network X, the US Treasury Department emphasized that the Swiss-based corporation "will never get a license to operate and make a profit".
For his part, Gunvor thores Pietras' spokesman said: The US Treasury Department's delegation is seriously distorted and unfounded. At this time, Gunvor decided to withdraw Lukoil's proposal to buy international assets."
Last week, Lukoil announced that it had accepted Gunvor's proposal to buy back the group's international business operations.
Lukoil said the deal would need to be approved by the US Treasury Department before the company was officially added to the US sanctions list on November 21.
In Europe, Lukoil owns two refineries in Bulgaria and Romania, a 45% stake in a fuel processing facility in the Netherlands and about 2,000 gas stations.
Gunvor was founded by Swedish billionaire Torbjorn tornqvist and Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko in 2000. Gunvor used to be the largest example of Russian oil exporters to the world market.
In 2014, just days before the US sanctioned businessman Timchenko for Russia's occupation of the Crimean peninsula, Mr. Timchenko sold 43.6% of shares in Gunvor.
Since then, the group has sought to distance itself from Russia-related activities.
Spokesperson Pietras affirmed: Gunvor is always open and transparent about its ownership and operations. For more than a decade, the company has proactively withdrawn from the field of trade with Russia, sold all its assets in Russia and publicly condemned the conflict in Ukraine. We welcome the opportunity to clarify this serious misunderstanding.
