“We make ourselves independent from Russia and any decisions made there,” he said on Friday.
Under German law, the government can take over the operation of an energy company for reasons of energy security. It has already placed under guardianship a unit of Gazprom, the natural gas company owned by the Kremlin.
Shell, the FTSE 100 oil and gas company, owns 37.5% of the Schwedt refinery, which normally receives all of its oil from Russia.
A Shell spokesman told Reuters it was “not affected” by the order and would “continue to comply with its contractual obligations”.
The move comes as Germany considers taking a controlling stake in Düsseldorf-based utility Uniper, which is its biggest importer of Russian gas.
The company, majority-owned by Finnish utility Fortum, has been plunged into turmoil over cuts in Russian gas that have forced it to buy power on the expensive spot market.
It already has a $19 billion government bailout but needs more support as the crisis drags on.
