German Wintershall wrote off its share in the project due to sabotage at Nord Stream

The German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea has written off its stake in the Nord Stream project due to the explosion of gas pipelines in the fall of 2022, says in the company’s report for 2022.

Wintershall Dea held a 15.5% stake, the document said. The company notes that in order to resume the activities of Nord Stream, it is necessary to stabilize the pipeline system in order to avoid risks to the environment and water transport. “Due to the geopolitical situation, it is impossible to predict the time frame and costs for stabilizing and restoring the gas transmission infrastructure, and therefore, Wintershall Dea has written off its investment in full,” the report clarifies.

The commissioning of Nord Stream 2 is also considered unlikely by the company due to the termination of the certification process in Germany and US sanctions.

The report states that in 2022 €1.13bn was written off in impairment losses, of which €529m was in equity at Nord Stream AG.

January 17, 2023 Wintershall Dea announced about the intention to leave Russia, “observing all applicable legal obligations.” Company CEO Mario Mehren said that in recent months, restrictions imposed by the Russian government on the activities of Western companies in the country have made it impossible for Wintershall Dea to continue operations in Russia and allegedly led to the economic expropriation of joint ventures in the country. The company’s press service said that the non-cash loss from the deconsolidation of joint ventures in Russia and the company’s stake in Nord Stream AG and WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG, will be about 5.3 billion euros.

The incident at Nord Stream occurred on the night of September 26, 2022. Both pipelines were depressurized by an explosion, after which two leaks were discovered that were located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Sweden, and two more in the Danish EEZ.

In October 2022, Sweden announced the completion of the investigation, stating “increasing suspicions of gross sabotage”, but those responsible for what happened were not named.

February 8, 2023 American journalist Seymour Hersh published investigation of the Nord Stream incident, in which he accused the United States and Norway of being involved in the bombing. The White House and the European Commission called this information unreliable.