Gunvor Withdraws From Lukoil Deal After U.S. Labels It a ‘Kremlin Puppet’

Swiss oil trader Gunvor Group Ltd has withdrawn its bid to purchase the foreign assets of Lukoil after the U.S. Treasury Department described the company as a “Kremlin puppet,” Orda.kz reports.

Just hours before Gunvor’s decision, the U.S. Treasury posted a statement on X, declaring:

President Trump has been clear that the war must end immediately. As long as Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a license to operate and profit.

The comment was widely interpreted as a warning that Washington would block the deal.

Gunvor called the accusation “fundamentally incorrect” but confirmed it was withdrawing its offer to acquire Lukoil’s overseas assets.

The Treasury Department statement about Gunvor is fundamentally misinformed and false. Gunvor is and has always been open and transparent about its ownership and business, and has for more than a decade actively distanced itself from Russia, stopped trading in line with sanctions, sold off Russian assets, and publicly condemned the war in Ukraine. We welcome the opportunity to ensure this clear misunderstanding is corrected. In the meantime, Gunvor withdraws its proposal for Lukoil’s international assets.

Bloomberg previously reported that the United States had begun reviewing Gunvor’s potential ties to Vladimir Putin.

The company, co-founded in the late 1990s by Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko and Swedish oil trader Torbjörn Törnqvist, came under U.S. scrutiny after Lukoil announced plans to sell its foreign holdings following new American sanctions imposed in October.

Törnqvist later bought out Timchenko’s stake after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Novaya Gazeta Europe also reported that members of the Törnqvist family still own property near Moscow and frequently travel to Russia.

Original Author: Zarina Fayzulina