WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday lifted sanctions on the German subsidiary of Russian oil giant Rosneft, ending months of uncertainty around the status of the company which has been seized by Berlin.

The US Treasury Department issued a general license “authorising transactions involving Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH”, exempting the companies from crushing sanctions announced in October.

In a rare effort to pressure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft, with the measures coming into force on November 21.

Those moves — the most powerful by Trump against Russia over the Ukraine war — saw major buyers of Russian oil scramble to find alternative suppliers.

Rosneft’s German business operations were not initially provided an exemption. It holds stakes in three German refineries that account for 12 percent of the country’s refining capacity.

Berlin has placed the assets under state control and insists they are “decoupled” from their Russian parent company, but it has held off from a full nationalisation, instead seeking a buyer for the shares.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026