Does MOL have a shopping list? Lukoil forced to sell valuable assets
At the end of October, Russian oil giant Lukoil announced plans to sell its international assets due to mounting pressure from US sanctions. The company has until 21 November to find buyers for several European interests, including three refineries and thousands of petrol stations.
With such a tight deadline, Lukoil faces two options: close deals with existing partners or rush through a formally compliant but potentially questionable transaction. In this race against time, Hungary’s MOL could be among the well-positioned contenders.
Does MOL have an advantage here?
Lukoil’s assets on the market include the Neftochim refinery in Burgas (Bulgaria), the Petrotel refinery in Ploiești (Romania), and a 45% stake in the Zeeland refinery (Netherlands), as well as around 2,500 petrol stations across Europe. These networks span from Romania to Belgium and the Balkans.
Unlike refineries, retail stations are considered commercial rather than strategic assets, making them easier to transfer quickly — a factor that could play to MOL’s advantage. The Hungarian company has already taken over several former Lukoil stations in Central Europe in the past.
According to Telex, MOL’s interest in the Burgas refinery is not new. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán confirmed last year that the Hungarian energy group was among the bidders for the site — reportedly the only EU-based participant.
However, since then, other potential buyers have emerged, including Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas, and Turkish investors. The Bulgarian state also considered purchasing the refinery, but given its strict fiscal rules and upcoming eurozone accession, such a move now appears unlikely.
Lukoil played dirty in Bulgaria
Lukoil’s operations in Bulgaria have long been controversial. The company owned the refinery through a Swiss entity and managed to avoid paying taxes for years by shifting profits abroad.
The Bulgarian government eventually cracked down with fines and tighter oversight. Today, the main challenge is to find a non-Russian buyer acceptable to both Sofia and Moscow.
In Romania, MOL previously held preliminary talks about acquiring a stake in the Petrotel refinery, but the Romanian authorities discouraged the deal. Analysts, including Tamás Pletser from Erste Bank, suggest that the NIS refinery in Serbia would be MOL’s most strategically attractive target. However, that plant is owned by Gazpromneft, a Kremlin-aligned company, and is not currently for sale.
The company and Moscow has to decide very soon
Given the looming deadline, completing any refinery acquisition appears highly unlikely. Instead, MOL might focus on purchasing retail fuel networks, which can be transferred faster and with fewer political hurdles.
While securing a refinery would bring long-term strategic benefits, the short timeframe and complex regulatory environment make such a move nearly impossible, but expanding its network of petrol stations could offer MOL a more realistic opportunity to strengthen its regional position in the energy market.