Wintershall Dea is on the lookout for a technique to sue Moscow after the Kremlin expropriated the German firm’s enterprise in Russia and wiped €2bn off its accounts.
The vitality group final month grew to become one of many final western oil and fuel producers to announce its exit from Russia following the nation’s assault on Ukraine, admitting it had misplaced management of its wells in addition to the bank accounts it shared with its joint venture partner Gazprom.
Chief govt Mario Mehren stated on Thursday that Wintershall — one of many major European buyers within the suspended Nord Stream 2 fuel pipeline between Russia and Germany — was now investigating “authorized claims we’d have towards the Russian state, or others”.
He added that the corporate “will strive all the pieces that might be attainable . . . and can execute it with out making huge bulletins”.
Wintershall, which is majority owned by BASF, revealed on Thursday that it had swung to a internet lack of €4.8bn in 2022 regardless of a 12 months of unprecedentedly excessive fuel costs due to a non-cash impairment of €7bn associated to the lack of its Russian enterprise.
Mehren was however assured that the corporate remained “robust and secure”, and spoke about plans to increase its enterprise in Mexico, Norway and north Africa.
Chief monetary officer Paul Smith stated Wintershall “had hoped, on the finish of the conflict and as soon as restrictions had been lifted”, that the money constituted of its continued operations in Russia can be “dividended again” to shareholders, however that this was “not the case”.
Mehren stated Wintershall additionally hoped to claw again a few of its losses in Russia below the German authorities’s federal funding assure, which some analysts have estimated might be price €2bn to €2.5bn.
The chief govt, who days earlier than the invasion of Ukraine had nonetheless been advocating for nearer ties with Russia, declined to touch upon whether or not Wintershall may attempt to promote its Russian enterprise to the nation’s authorities or Gazprom.
“At this cut-off date, we aren’t disclosing particulars on our plans of how precisely we’ll realise our exit from Russia,” he stated.
The corporate, which human rights teams have claimed has equipped Gazprom with merchandise that can be utilized to make gasoline for Russian army jets, stated it aimed to finish its exit this 12 months.
Nevertheless, Mehren cautioned that “how lengthy that is going to take ultimately may also not solely rely upon us, it’s going to additionally rely upon others”.
