In Georgia, payment by bank cards has stopped working at Lukoil gas stations. According to the "Batumelebi" publication, drivers are offered to pay only in cash.
An operator at one of the stations in Batumi reported: "You cannot pay with a card, we fill up with cash - cards have been canceled." According to him, payments through terminals have not worked for five days. The company's hotline confirmed that similar problems are observed at other Lukoil gas stations across the country. The reasons for the malfunctions are not specified, and the timing of service restoration is unknown. Journalists were unable to obtain an official comment from Lukoil Georgia.
Failures with card payments are also recorded in other countries where Lukoil gas stations are present, including the USA and Azerbaijan. This is happening against the background of sanctions imposed by the United States against the Russian parent structure of the company. At the same time, as Bloomberg noted, it is difficult to establish the exact source of the problems - the processing of transactions depends on a large number of participants.
Earlier, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a temporary license allowing operations related to the sale of Lukoil's international assets to be carried out until December 13, as well as ensuring the operation of foreign gas stations.
After the introduction of sanctions, the company announced plans to sell foreign assets. The oil trader Gunvor was considered as a possible buyer, but the deal did not take place - the US Treasury Department made it clear that it opposed its conclusion. Later, Lukoil announced negotiations with several potential buyers.
