MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s General Prosecutor’s office has submitted a claim in a Moscow court against Germany’s Wintershall Dea, threatening a fine of 7.5 billion euros ($8.5 billion) in case it pursues international arbitration, news agencies reported on Thursday.
The Moscow Arbitration Court’s website showed a claim against the company, as well as Aurelius Cotta, a law firm specialised in international arbitration, and three international arbiters, without disclosing details.
A spokesperson for Wintershall Dea in Germany said: “We have heard of the claim through the media. Please understand that we will not comment on the matter.”
Britain’s Harbour Energy last year acquired most of Wintershall Dea’s exploration and production activities except some assets, most notably the group’s Russian-related activities and its 15.5% stake in the defunct Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Wintershall Dea’s exit from Russia, announced over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was an uneasy process.
Under Russian decrees from December 2023, Wintershall Dea’s stakes in the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas condensate field and in the Achimov gas projects were reverted to newly-created Russian companies and offered for sale to Gazovyye Tekhnologii, formalising the loss of control that BASF and Wintershall Dea had flagged since January 2023.
The company had initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, which had repeatedly protested against such cases, saying they should have been considered only in Russian courts.
($1 = 0.8794 euros)
(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva, Vladimir Soldatkin and Vera Eckert; editing by David Evans)
