Surgutneftegaz’s €1.4bn ($1.8bn) purchase of a 21.2 per cent stake in Mol, the Hungarian refining group, marks the secretive Russian oil group’s first foreign acquisition as the Kremlin seeks ways to strengthen Russia’s position in European energy markets.

The deal is a landmark for cash-rich Surgut, the oil group held though a complex web of cross-shareholdings and run by Vladimir Bogdanov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister.