Lukoil CEO Says Won't Sell Off Retail Operation

Russian's second biggest oil producer, Lukoil, has decided not to sell off its network of filling stations, Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov said on Thursday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The retail business is in a crisis situation, oil refining and the retail business are under pressure from the new tax realities," Alekperov told Putin at their meeting, at the presidential residence outside Moscow.

"There was an idea to sell (Lukoil's retail business), the management did not agree. We are now optimising our network."