Romanian prosecutors seized assets of Russian oil firm Lukoil worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in an investigation on suspicion of money laundering, a local court was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state agency Agerpres.
In October of last year Romanian prosecutors, police and customs inspectors raided the offices of Lukoil near the city of Ploiesti in an investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering concerning an estimated 230 million euros.
As a result, Lukoil briefly shut down its local refinery.
The allegations have been strenuously denied by Lukoil and the company intends to appeal against the order against it.
On Wednesday, the Ploiesti court of appeals was quoted as saying prosecutors expanded their investigation into the head of the local Petrotel Lukoil S.A. and five other employees, including two Russian citizens, on accusations of misusing company credit and money laundering.
The actions of those investigated drained the local company of capital, the court was quoted by state agency Agerpres as saying.
A Lukoil spokesman said the company “strongly denied” accusations of money laundering and tax evasion.
He said: “Lukoil has been operating on Romania’s territory since 1998 and is one of the biggest fuel-and-energy companies on its market. Lukoil is a prompt payer to the state budget and a supplier of quality products to the Romanian consumers.
“Lukoil intends to appeal against the Prosecution Office’s order in accordance with the established procedure and counts on impartial investigation of the incident, according to the rules and standards accepted both in Romania and in the EU.
“Petrotel-Lukoil provides approximately a thousand workplaces in the region. In the past 9 years, 540 million dollars has been invested in the upgrading of the refinery.
“It is Lukoil’s hope that any hindrances to the functioning of this backbone enterprise will be successfully avoided.”
“Seizure measures were enforced on some assets belonging to Lukoil Europe Holdings Bvatrium Holland for up to 2 billion euros,” Agerpres quoted the court as saying.
They seized accounts held with Dutch and British banks, share premiums as well as Lukoil Europe Holdings Bvatrium Holland shares in the Romanian company, it said.