FILE โ In this Aug. 27, 2018 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin during his flight to visit Chernigovets coal mine, in Beryozovsky, Kemerovo region, Russia. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, the Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Rosneftโs trading arm and its CEO, accusing the Geneva-based firm of providing a critical lifeline to Venezuelaโs President Nicolas Maduro. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File
(AP) โ Russiaโs Rosneft oil company said Saturday that itโs halting operations in Venezuela and selling its assets there to a company fully owned by the Russian government, a move apparently intended to protect Russiaโs largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions while Moscow continues supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The sale follows the United States imposing sanctions on two Rosneft subsidiaries in an effort to cut a critical lifeline Russia extended to Maduro after the U.S. government made it illegal for Americans to buy crude from Venezuela.
Rosneft, led by Russian President Vladimir Putinโs longtime associate Igor Sechin, said that its move means that โall assets and trading operations of Rosneft in Venezuela and/or connected with Venezuela will be disposed of, terminated or liquidated.โ
It said in a statement that it โconcluded an agreement with the company 100% owned by the government of Russian Federation, to sell all of its interest and cease participation in its Venezuelan businesses, โ including multiple joint ventures, oil-field services companies and other activities.
The sale could help shield Rosneft by handing over control over the Venezuelan operations to a fully state-owned venture that unlike the state-controlled Rosneft isnโt answerable to private investors.
In February, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Rosneft subsidiary based in Geneva that sells crude to European customers. U.S. authorities vowed to keep applying pressure and hit a second Rosneft subsidiary with sanctions earlier this month.
Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontyev said the companyโs decision was aimed at โprotecting the interests of our shareholders.โ He added in remarks carried by Russiaโs Tass news agency that Rosneft expects the U.S. to now waive sanctions against its subsidiaries.
โWe really have the right to expect American regulators to fulfill their public promises,โ he said.
Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, reiterated that Russiaโs view is that โunilateral U.S. sanctions against Venezuela are unlawful and inhumane.โ
โMoscow and Caracas will remain partners amid the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela,โ he told the Interfax news agency.
The U.S. was first among nearly 60 nations to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidรณ a year ago as Venezuelaโs rightful leader. The international coalition considers Maduro illegitimate after 2018 elections widely deemed fraudulent because the most popular opposition candidates were banned from running against him. Russiaโs support has helped Maduro to face down U.S.-backed efforts to unseat him.
Rosneft said in its statement that โthe concluded transaction and the
sale of assets will result in Rosneft receiving as a settlement payment a 9.6% share of Rosneftโs equity capital that will be held by a 100% subsidiary of Rosneft and accounted for as treasury stock.โ