Russia has seized assets held by OMV and Wintershall Dea, Yuzhno-Russkoye and Achimgaz respectively.
OMV noted the presidential decree but said that it had written down the value of its Russian assets. As such, it expects no further impact as a result of the move.
However, the Austrian company did say it reserve its rights on the issue. It stopped including Russian results in its group reporting in March 2022.
OMV explained that its 24.99% stake in the West Siberian was being transferred, under the decree, to new Russian companies. Insurance company SOGAZ and Gazprom would own these.
The presidential decree transferred Wintershall’s stake in Achimgaz to a new company, Gas Technologies.
Wintershall has not yet responded to a request for comment.
RIA Novosti quoted Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov as denying the state had confiscated the assets. “No, Russia has not started the withdrawal process, there is no withdrawal. Those who leave the market, they sell or transfer assets, it all depends on negotiations. But there has not been and is no withdrawal process,” Peskov said.
According to the decree, the government will deposit the cash from the sale in bank accounts opened in March 2022.
Wintershall reported its Achimgaz unit had reached full capacity, of 10 billion cubic metres per year, in 2019. Global Witness, earlier this year, said Wintershall’s production in West Siberia was going to help Russia’s war efforts.
In January, Wintershall said Gazprom had emptied shared bank accounts of around 2 billion euros.
Germany has recently taken action to seize funds from a Russian-owned account in Frankfurt. The Federal Prosecutor General announced today the seizure of 720 million euros.