Lukoil’s Romanian refinery files for insolvency “to protect activity and employees”

The Petrotel refinery owned by the Russian group Lukoil under US sanctions, under extended supervision by the Romanian state since February 2026, will enter insolvency, according to the decision confirmed on Monday, August 24, in a response to Mediafax. The Petrotel refinery's activity was stopped in October last year for scheduled technical overhaul works, but was not resumed in the meantime, due to the international sanctions.

The Petrotel refinery owned by Lukoil used to provide 21% of the national fuel production and is the only one of the four on Romanian territory (including the smaller Vega refinery owned by Rompetrol Group) that is currently closed.