The Bundeskartellamt has today cleared plans by Alcmene GmbH, a member of the Liwathon Group, to acquire 37.5 per cent of the shares in PCK Raffinerie GmbH, Schwedt (PCK).

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “The Liwathon Group has so far not been active either in the refinery sector or in upstream or downstream business areas of the mineral oil sector. Therefore, the project did not raise any competition concerns.”

The examination of the project was limited exclusively to the possible effects Liwathon Group’s purchase of these shares may have on competition. Based on the clearance decision issued today, it is thus not possible to say whether or not the shares can and will be purchased with regard to issues other than competition law matters.

The notified project which has now been cleared is based on a purchase agreement already concluded in mid-2021 regarding the acquisition of 37.5 per cent of the shares in PCK previously held by Shell. The Russian state-owned company Rosneft, which is a current co-shareholder of PCK, had then exercised its pre-emption rights to acquire these shares.