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Latest Russian hit on foreign firms no surprise says CEO
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Progressing with Russia exit, considering legal steps
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Focusing on other regions, new climate businesses
(Adds detail on Russia)
FRANKFURT, April 26 (Reuters) - Wintershall Dea Chief Executive Mario Mehren on Wednesday
said Moscow's decree to establish control over energy firms
Uniper and Fortum was not affecting his
company so far, but Russia's policies were "unpredictable" and
"unreliable."
"We currently are not affected by this decree," Mehren said
in a call with reporters on first quarter 2023 earnings.
"I can't tell you if it is going to happen. Everything can happen in Russia these days in terms of direct interference with our rights to our assets," he added. The majority BASF-owned company, which has de-consolidated all its Russian-related activities, reported a 14% drop in operating profit, partly as a result of lower production.
Prior to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and Wintershall Dea's exit from Russia announced in January, its operations there had accounted for over half its output worldwide. It has since focused on boosting activities in its 11 remaining countries of operation, notably Norway, and in its new business area of carbon capture and storage. "We have been affected with our Russian joint ventures, be it because dividend transfers have been stopped, be it that sales of activities need special approvals, be it because our rights to vote in corporate bodies have been restricted," Mehren said. The company was considering legal steps against the Russian state and joint venture partners, he said, without elaborating.
Wintershall Dea is also looking into possibly calling on insurance policies and federal German investment guarantees to recoup financial damages, Mehren added. Its St. Petersburg office now has fewer than 50 people working there, and staff elsewhere in the country has been reduced. Exiting from the Siberian gas field participations would be "difficult" and hinge on approvals, so the further timing was hard to predict, Mehren said. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, additional reporting by Patricia Weiss, editing by Miranda Murray and Tomasz Janowski)
@EckertVera;))