The tightening of sanctions on Russia and in particular on Russian oil would lead to the immediate closure of the Isab refinery located in Priolo in the industrial area of Syracuse. And therefore to the collapse of the entire industrial area, one of the most important energy poles in Europe.
Danger imminent closure
For the first time, almost fifty years after its foundation, the danger of a closure of the plant becomes more concrete due to what everyone in these parts now calls the “boomerang effect of sanctions on Putin’s Russia” and an attitude on the part of the credit system which is deemed “unnecessarily hostile” towards a company under Italian law controlled by the Swiss Litasco SA which is controlled by Lukoil, whose founder and number one Vagit Alekperov resigned in recent days.
The Isab Refinery, which Litasco purchased a few years ago from the Erg Group, processes (today) 10.6 million tons (on average) of refined crude oil per year (13.6% of the national total) but with a capacity of refining which, according to data recorded by Unem, reaches 19.4 million tons of crude oil a year, equal to just over 22.2% of the national total.
Plant supplied by Russian wells
Until a few months ago, Isab purchased on average 40% of oil from Russia, but now all the crude oil processed comes from Russia and in particular from the wells controlled by Lukoil: the banks no longer grant the necessary credit or guarantees to purchase the oil. oil outside Russia and therefore Lukoil’s rescue arrived: “We take crude oil from Lukoil – says Claudio Geraci, Isab’s deputy general manager – because it is the only company that gives us credit”. That is why any indiscriminate sanctions on Russian oil would have only one effect: the closure of the refinery and the sacking of workers.
«But let’s be careful – says Mimmo Tringali, administrator of the Tringali Shipyards in Augusta – the closure of the Isab refinery would send the entire industrial area upside down because everything is held here. As regards the maritime cluster alone, at least one thousand jobs and a turnover of one billion with hundreds of interested companies are in the balance ». It would be the end, so to speak, for the Port of Augusta which “handles 38 million tons of goods every year in which Isab products have a decisive weight: out of 2600 landings in a year, at least 500 Isab ones”.