Wintershall Dea will write off funding for Nord Stream 2 | News from Germany about Germany

The German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea has decided to write off financing for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the amount of about 1 billion euros, according to a company press release published on Wednesday, March 2. In addition, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Wintershall Dea’s board decided to forgo new oil and gas projects in Russia and immediately stop all payments to the Russian Federation.

The head of Wintershall Dea, Mario Mehren, said yesterday that as a result of the war declared on Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, “the foundation of our work in Russia has been shaken to the ground.” Wintershall Dea, together with the Russian concern Gazprom, is developing the Yuzhno-Russkoye field, as well as the Achimov deposits of the Urengoyskoye field in Western Siberia. The company plans to continue participating in these projects, which “produce natural gas for the energy supply of Europe,” the report says.

Wintershall Dea was established in May 2019 by combining the assets of two firms: Wintershall, which was part of the German chemical concern BASF, and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, which belonged to the Luxembourg-registered holding of Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman LetterOne (L1). The merger left BASF with 67 percent and LetterOne with 33 percent in the new company.

US imposes sanctions on gas pipeline operator

Together with four other European firms, Wintershall, a Gazprom partner since 1990, has been involved in financing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. On February 22, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany was stopping the certification process for Nord Stream 2, without which this gas pipeline could not be put into operation. The next day, US President Joe Biden announced the imposition of sanctions against the gas pipeline operator, Nord Stream 2 AG.

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Author: Andrey Gurkov