*

Sanctions disrupt Lukoil's operations in Iraq, Finland,

and

Switzerland

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Lukoil to sell foreign assets to Gunvor amid sanctions

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Finnish banks freeze payments to Teboil, risking job

losses

(Adds detail throughout)

By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ahmad Ghaddar and Robert Harvey

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Russian oil major Lukoil

is struggling to keep operations running at its

sprawling foreign businesses as Western sanctions disrupt oil

loadings in Iraq, pump stations in Finland and trading in

Switzerland, sources said.

The United States and the United Kingdom last month imposed

sanctions on Russia's second-largest oil company, complicating

how it carries out its normal operations.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a licence giving companies

until November 21. to wind down any transactions with Lukoil and

number-one producer Rosneft.

The impact of the sanctions is being felt across various regions

where the company operates.

Iraq's state firm Somo cancelled loadings of three crude oil

cargoes from Lukoil's equity production at the West Qurna-2

field, two market sources said on Tuesday, citing concerns over

U.S. and UK sanctions on the company.

Lukoil has a 75% interest in the 480,000 barrel-per-day field,

with Iraq's North Oil Company holding the remaining stake.

The cargoes were due to load on November 11, 18 and 26, the

sources said.

Lukoil and Somo did not immediately reply to a Reuters request

for comment.

Several trading sources told Reuters that Geneva-based Litasco,

Lukoil's trading arm, has struggled to charter ships since

Britain imposed sanctions because UK-based shipbrokers refuse

to work with them.

Two trading sources with knowledge of the trader's operations

said that Litasco has also sacked employees as a direct result

of the sanctions.

Litasco did not respond to a request for comment.

Around 1,000 Teboil gasoline station workers and operators fear

losing their jobs in Finland in the coming weeks as Finnish

banks have begun to implement the sanctions on Russian oil and

Teboil's owner Lukoil.

Teboil did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Finnish banks have already started to freeze payments to

Teboil, said Finance Finland which represents Finnish banks,

ahead of the November 21 deadline.

Last month, Lukoil said it had accepted an offer from global

commodity trader Gunvor to buy its foreign assets, which it was

seeking to sell after Washington's sanctions.