In view of the Ukraine war, Wintershall stopped payments to and from Russia.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The oligarch German Khan is stepping down from the supervisory board of the energy company Wintershall Dea with immediate effect. Wintershall announced this on Tuesday evening. Khan announced that he was resigning as a member of the supervisory board. All members of the supervisory board were informed immediately. From now on, no more confidential information regarding supervisory board issues will be shared with German Khan.
The Russian entrepreneur had previously been included on the sanctions lists of the EU and Great Britain. Khan was not only on the Wintershall supervisory board, but also on the board of the LetterOne investor group, which holds 27.3 percent of Wintershall.
Wintershall announced on Tuesday evening that it would stop all payments to LetterOne as a precaution. No effects on the operational business are expected and, as before, all applicable laws and sanctions imposed are adhered to.
It was already known at the beginning of March that the LetterOne owner and oligarch Mikhail Fridman was on the European Union’s sanctions list and had given up the management of LetterOne.
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The shares of Fridman and co-owner Petr Aven would be “frozen”, Letter One partner Lord Mervyn Davies told the British financial newspaper Financial Times. He himself will take over the leadership of Letter One.
BASF also affected
Two weeks ago, the Wintershall Executive Board decided to postpone the decision on the distribution of a dividend for the past financial year until further notice. In addition to LetterOne, the dividend would have accrued to the second major shareholder, BASF, which holds 72.7 percent of the shares.
In addition, Wintershall had stopped payments to and from Russia in view of the Ukraine war. For the time being, however, the company will maintain the existing gas production in Siberia and operate the activities economically self-sufficient.
The company has had close ties to Russia for decades and is considered one of the largest partners of the world’s largest gas producer Gazprom. Wintershall Dea produces gas together with Gazprom and even manages the 50:50 joint venture.
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