--Russian company among bidders for Petroplus's Coryton refinery in UK, union organizer says

--The refinery has been idled after running out of crude, he says

--Shell, Vopak and Greenergy believed to bid jointly for Coryton as terminal, he says

(Adds union representative comment, detail.)

 
   By Konstantin Rozhnov

LONDON--A Russian company is among bidders for Petroplus Holdings AG's Coryton refinery in England and wants to operate the facility as a refinery rather than turn it into a storage and distribution terminal, the Unite labor union's regional industrial organizer Russ Ball said Wednesday.

He declined to name the company, saying that it could undermine its talks with the administrator of Petroplus's U.K. subsidiaries.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the administrator, wasn't immediately available to comment.

However, the Russian company isn't a trading house, Mr Ball added.

Russian oil major OAO Lukoil Holdings (LKOH.RS) and state-owned oil champion Rosneft (ROSN.RS) are among the companies which already have stakes in or own European refineries.

Swiss oil trader Vitol Group said last month it had teamed up with investment company AtlasInvest to buy Petroplus's Cressier refinery in Switzerland.

On the same day Cyprus-registered commodities trader Gunvor Group announced the completion of its purchase of Petroplus's refinery in Antwerp, Belgium. The trader is also in the process of buying the Ingolstadt plant in Germany--also one of the facilities owned by Petroplus, once Europe's largest independent refiner.

The Coryton refinery was the only Petroplus facility operating after the company lost access to all its credit lines and then filed for insolvency in January.

But Coryton has been idled after running out of crude, Mr Ball said Wednesday. Prior to Petroplus's insolvency, the refinery was supplying around 10% of the U.K.'s fuel market.

PwC said at the end of May that it had been unable to sell or refinance the 220,000-barrel-a-day facility.

A PwC spokeswoman said last Friday that the administrator is still "looking at all options" and continuing talks with potential buyers. The facility could still be sold as a refinery, terminal or distribution centre, she added.

Mr Ball said Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), Royal Vopak NV--the operator of three terminals in the U.K.--and fuel supplier Greenergy Ltd. are believed to have submitted a joint bid to operate Coryton as a terminal.

Shell and Greenergy declined to comment. Vopak wasn't immediately available to comment.

If Coryton is closed permanently or turned into a terminal, it will lead to redundancies, analysts have said.

The refinery employs more than 500 permanent staff and up to 500 contractors, according to Richard Howitt, the Member of the European Parliament for the East of England.

-Write to Konstantin Rozhnov at konstantin.rozhnov@dowjones.com