Wintershall Dea explores available options to leave Russia

German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea is exploring available options to exit Russian assets and has begun closing its office in St. Petersburg. This was told to reporters by the head of the company, Mario Meren.

Wintershall Dea, he said, no longer sees prospects for energy cooperation with Russia in the “foreseeable future”, so the decision to leave the Russian market is final.

“We have begun to take appropriate steps in recent weeks. We have begun the process of closing our office in St. Petersburg, reducing the number of our local colleagues. We have also returned our expatriate colleagues from Russia back to their home jurisdictions. We are also considering various options for exiting the assets,” – leads his words TASS.

Now less than 50 people remain in the St. Petersburg office of the company, Mehren added. He called the exit process from Russian assets difficult because of the barriers created, in his estimation, by the Russian authorities.

January 17, 2023 Wintershall Dea announced about the intention to leave Russia, “observing all applicable legal obligations.” Mehren then said that the restrictions previously imposed by the Russian government on the activities of Western companies in the country made it impossible for the company to continue its activities in Russia and allegedly led to the economic expropriation of joint ventures in the country.

The company’s press service stated at the time 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. Because of the sabotage at Nord Stream, the company also wrote off its share (15.5%) in the Nord Stream project.

On December 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the introduction of special economic measures in the field of gas supplies in connection with the unfriendly actions of a number of states. According to the document, “Gazprom”and its affiliates cannot fulfill obligations to foreign companies that are associated with countries that commit unfriendly actions against the Russian Federation.