Moscow takes control over assets of Western companies
Adds Raiffeisen and Linde, updates Commerzbank
Sept 6 (Reuters) -Kremlin has been seizing assets of some Western companies in Russia through decrees signed by President Vladimir Putin and court orders related to lawsuits over halted projects or blocked funds amid Western sanctions.
Below is a list of the companies affected so far.
AGROTERRA
Russia seized companies of agricultural group AgroTerra and placed them under temporary management in April, including some backed by Dutch investment firms.
AMEDIA
Putin signed a decree transferring Amedia's former assets to state management in September 2023, after the Norwegian publisher left control of its Russian printing houses to Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in April 2022.
CARLSBERG CARLb.CO
The Russian state took control of Danish beer company Carlsberg's stake in local brewer Baltika Breweries in July 2023, putting it under temporary management of the government property agency.
COMMERZBANK CBKG.DE
A Russian court ordered in June that Commerzbank assets worth 94.9 million euros ($105.4 million) be awarded in damages to a pipeline firm in northwest Russia.
Almost all of the assets involved had already been seized by court order.
DANONE DANO.PA
The Russian state took control of the French yoghurt maker's Russian subsidiary in July 2023 and brought it under temporary control of the government property agency.
Putin removed it from temporary management in March, ahead of a disposal of its Essential Dairy and Plant-based business in Russia later that month.
DEUTSCHE BANK DBKGn.DE
A Russian court in May seized up to 238.6 million euros ($259.4 million) in securities, real estate and bank accounts of Deutsche Bank, along with its Russian subsidiary and Deutsche Bank Technology Center.
FORTUM FORTUM.HE
In April 2023, Putin signed a decree that established control over Fortum's Russian unit that operates power plants in the country.
FRAPORT FRAG.DE
Putin signed a decree in December 2023 to put St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport under the temporary management of a Russian holding company, taking control from German airport group Fraport, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority and investors from other Gulf states.
JPMORGAN CHASE JPM.N
JPMorgan Chase said on May 2 that its assets in Russia may be seized after lawsuits in Russian and U.S. courts. It said the value of claims and orders to freeze assets exceeded its available assets in Russia.
A Russian court ordered in April the seizure of funds in JPMorgan accounts after state-owned bank VTB VTBR.MM sued to regain its funds blocked abroad, while JPMorgan sued VTB in a bid to block the effort.
LINDE LIN.DE
A Russian court ordered on Aug. 14 that assets of Linde's British unit worth some $1.15 billion be frozen in a dispute over a gas processing plant.
OMV OMVV.VI
Under decrees from December 2023, Austrian oil and gas company OMV's stakes in the Yuzhno-Russkoye field and in the gas extraction Achimov projects are to revert to newly created Russian companies and offered for sale to Gazovyye Tekhnologii. OMV's assets will then be sold to joint stock company SOGAZ.
RAIFFEISEN RBIV.VI
A Russian court froze the shares in Raiffeisen's local arm, blocking the sale of the Russian unit, the Austrian bank said on Sept. 5.
ROLF
On Feb. 21, a Russian court ordered that ownership of shares in Rolf, a car dealership owned by a Cyprus-based firm, be handed over to the Russian state, Russian news agencies reported, after it was placed under temporary state management in December.
UNICREDIT CRDI.MI
St Petersburg arbitration court ordered in May that UniCredit's assets, accounts and property, and shares in two subsidiaries be seized as part of a lawsuit over an aborted gas project involving the Italian bank.
UniCredit said the seizure affected only a fraction of its Russian unit's assets, not the entire subsidiary.
UNIPER UN01.DE
The Kremlin on April 2023 took action against Unipro, the Russian division of German utility Uniper that has five power plants in Russia, introducing external management and a new CEO.
WINTERSHALL DEA WINT.UL
Under decrees from December 2023, Wintershall Dea's stakes in the Yuzhno-Russkoye field and in the Achimov projects are to revert to newly created Russian companies and offered for sale to Gazovyye Tekhnologii, formalising the loss of control that BASF BASFn.DE and Wintershall Dea had flagged since January 2023.
Wintershall Dea is a joint venture between BASF and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment firm LetterOne.
($1 = 0.9001 euros)
Compiled by Agata Rybska, Greta Rosen Fondahn and Tomasz Kanik; Editing by Christina Fincher and Milla Nissi
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
