In the Achimgaz joint venture, Wintershall and Gazprom produce natural gas in western Siberia. The BASF subsidiary wants to stay on site, but reduce activities.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf After BP, Shell and Exxon-Mobil, the German oil and gas producer Wintershall Dea is now reacting to the Ukraine war and is radically restricting its business with Russia. The BASF subsidiary is writing off the controversial Nord Stream 2 project and suspending all plans for new production projects in Russia, the company announced on Wednesday. Wintershall invested around one billion euros in Nord Stream 2.
Wintershall Dea is deliberately staying in the country and maintaining the existing gas production in Siberia for the time being, but will operate the activities economically self-sufficient. “The production projects deliver natural gas and supply Europe with energy,” says a statement. There will be no more payments to and from Russia. These have already been stopped with immediate effect.
Wintershall Dea was recently under massive pressure to react to the war between Russia and Ukraine. After all, 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.
Although Wintershall is active in 13 countries, Russia is the most important location. Since the takeover of the German competitor Dea in 2019, the then Dea owner Michail Fridman has held a 33 percent stake in the company through his company Letter One.
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The oligarch is now on the European Union’s sanctions list and, according to a Financial Times report, has given up the management of Letter One. The shares of Fridman and co-owner Petr Aven would also be “frozen,” Lord Mervyn Davies told the British financial newspaper. Davies himself will take over the leadership of Letter One.
>> Read about this: ‘Founders of Putin’s inner circle’: Russian oligarchs complain about sanctions
Wintershall Dea boss Mario Mehren had warned of sanctions just the weekend before Russia invaded Ukraine. But last Thursday, when the war began, he said he was “shocked”.
Energy companies under pressure
The energy companies Eon and Uniper, on the other hand, have so far held back. The Essen-based Eon Group has held a stake of almost 15 percent in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which has already been put into operation, for eleven years. The profits from the participation flow into the pension assets.
Eon spun off the remaining Russian activities to Uniper in 2015. On the one hand, the company is involved in the financing of Nord Stream 2. On the other hand, the Düsseldorf-based company also makes part of its sales directly in Russia – under the brand name of the electricity supplier Unipro.
The Düsseldorf-based company has been trying to sell it for a long time, but cannot find a buyer. In the current situation, that should be almost impossible. Uniper did not want to comment on whether a U-turn in the matter of Russia is imminent.
The Austrian OMV announced on Tuesday that it would not continue negotiations with Gazprom about the possible acquisition of a stake in a Siberian gas field. In addition, one wants to check the participation in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
At the weekend, first BP withdrew from the Russian oil company Rosneft at high losses, then Equinor from Norway, Shell and most recently Exxon-Mobil announced their withdrawal from Russia.
More: The first German companies are withdrawing from business in Russia
