Putin seizes IMV and Wintershall Dea's Russian ventures

Dec 19 (Reuters) — Two Western companies — Germany’s Wintershall Des and Austria’s OMV — are to formally lose their shares in gas extraction projects in Russia’s Arctic, according to presidential decrees.

OMV last year already pulled out from Russia following the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

Wintershall Dea, a joint venture of BASF and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s investment firm LetterOne, is in the process of exiting from Russia.

All activities with Russian participation, including Wintershall Dea’s stake in the Nord Stream pipeline as well as joint ventures with Gazprom are to be legally separated by mid-2024.

Under the decrees signed on Tuesday by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, OMV’s and Wintershall Dea’s stakes in the Yuzhno-Russkoye field and in the Achimov projects are to revert to newly created Russian companies.

Both projects are located in the Yamal-Nenets region in Russia’s far north.

Under the terms of the decree, all shares held by foreign companies in joint ventures with gas giant Gazprom are to be turned over to the new Russian entities. Shareholders will receive shares proportionate their holdings in the joint venture.

Proceeds from the sales of these holdings will be placed in special accounts owned by what was previously their former foreign owners.

All corporate agreements previously in force will no longer be valid from the moment of the decree’s signature. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Ronald Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler)