宾夕法尼亚州和新泽西州近30家卢克石油加油站的经营者现可继续提起诉讼，指控这家俄罗斯石油巨头向特许经营商收取过高费用。
The owners of almost 30 Lukoil PJSC filling stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey can proceed with a lawsuit accusing the Russian oil giant of overcharging franchisees.
米娅·金迪斯报道：周五，新泽西州特伦顿的州法院法官道格拉斯·H·赫德驳回了卢克石油要求撤销诉讼的请求。法官在简短的裁决中并未说明具体理由。
By Mia Gindis The owners of almost 30 Lukoil PJSC Lukoil’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was rejected by New Jersey state court Judge Douglas H. Hurd in Trenton on Friday. The judge didn’t give any reasons for his ruling in a brief order.
此诉讼的起因是美国实施的制裁措施，这些措施切断了卢克石油的诸多国际收入来源，而乌克兰的无人机袭击也严重影响了该公司在国内的业务运营。
The suit followed US sanctions that dried up several of the oil company’s international revenue streams while relentless Ukrainian drone strikes cripple operations at home.
新泽西州的20名特许经营商及宾夕法尼亚州的9名特许经营商指控称，卢克石油为了弥补因制裁导致的收入损失，向他们收取了过高的汽油价格。
Twenty franchisees in New Jersey and another nine in Pennsylvania alleged that Lukoil is charging excessively high prices for gasoline to offset revenue lost as a result of sanctions.
根据4月份提交的诉状，由于卢克石油的“经济胁迫”行为，这些加油站经营者总共遭受了数百万美元的损失。除了定价过高外，他们还被迫在明显无利可图的时段营业，被毫无预兆地收取不必要的维修费用，甚至得不到用于必要设施修缮的资金支持。
US Gives Lukoil International a One-Month Sanctions Waiver The station owners have collectively suffered millions of dollars in losses stemming from Lukoil’s “economic coercion,” according to the complaint filed in April. On top of overcharging, the station owners said they were forced to operate during “demonstrably unprofitable” hours, billed without warning for superfluous maintenance work, and denied funds for essential repairs.
在周五早些时候的听证会上，卢克石油的代理律师辩称，公司与特许经营商之间偶尔出现的纠纷并不能构成“不合理的经营标准”。目前，卢克石油尚未对相关置评请求作出回应。
US Lukoil Gas Station Owners Left in Limbo Over Russia Sanctions At a hearing earlier Friday, Lukoil’s attorney argued that the occasional disputes between the company and franchisees do not amount to “unreasonable performance standards.”Lukoil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.