Prosecutors of Ploiesti Court of Appeal operated an investigation on Thursday at the Lukoil refinery in Ploiesti, in a case of tax evasion and money laundering. The investigators estimated a financial injury at about 230 million euros, said judicial sources quoted by Mediafax.

In a press release issued by prosecutors of Ploiesti Court of Appeal stated that they held 23 searches at the premises of companies SC LUKOIL PETROTEL S. A. Ploiesti, SC LUKOIL ENERGY & GAS ROMANIA LLC, SC LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EAST EUROPE LLC, SC AGENCY LLC LUKOM-A-ROMANIA, SC TP LOG SERVICES SRL, all in Ploiesti.

Lukoil Europe Holdings, the Russian oil group LUKOIL owns 97.1% of the shares of Lukoil refinery in Ploiesti, while other shareholders cumulate the remaining 2.89% of the shares.

The Russian group also holds in Romania a network of over 300 filling stations.

Petrotel refinery recorded in 2013 a turnover of 5.51 billion lei, down 20.4% from 6.93 billion lei, in 2012.

Last year, Petrotel-Lukoil recorded losses of 928.8 million lei, 3.3 times higher than the loss of 274.4 million lei in 2012.