The Romanian court seized the accounts of LUKOIL at the request of the prosecutor's office. The total value of the seized assets is estimated at €2 billion

LUKOIL advertisement on one of the buildings in Bucharest, Romania. File photo (Photo: Global Look Press)

According to a representative of the court's press service, the arrest is related to an investigation into a case of money laundering and tax evasion, which has been going on since last year. Then the refinery in the Romanian city of Ploiesti was searched and accounting documents were seized. At the same time, the prosecutor's office tried to seize oil reserves in the city of Constanta, which led to the suspension of the enterprise. The Prime Minister of Romania intervened in the process, since 3,500 refinery employees could be unemployed, Digi24 reports .

The court ruling states that assets belonging to Lukoil Europe Holdings Bvatrium Holland worth up to €2 billion have been seized, Reuters reports .

The investigation concerns the company Petrotel-LUKOIL. The manager, as well as several employees, including two Russian citizens, were under suspicion.

Romanian investigative authorities believe that as a result of the violations, the state suffered damages amounting to more than 1 billion lei (€230 million).

There have been no official comments from Petrotel-Lukoil yet.

LUKOIL is the third largest player in the Romanian oil market. The company has 300 gas stations throughout the country.

Romanian court seizes LUKOIL accounts