”Wintershall Dea intends to fully exit Russia in an orderly manner complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”

So says the German oil and gas company, which also discloses in a press release that the group has booked a Q4 impairment to the tune of EUR 5.3bn.

One reason is that Wintershall Dea has come to the conclusion that the company no longer meets the accounting standards pursuant to the International Financial Reporting Standards, attributed to a lack of ”control or significant influence over its Russian joint ventures.”

Accordingly, all of Wintershall Dea’s Russian activities will be categorized as deconsolidated in the fourth quarter.

”Wintershall Dea will end its Russian activities. Continuing to operate in Russia is not tenable. Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is incompatible with our values and has destroyed co-operation between Russia and Europe,” states Chief Executive Officer of Wintershall Dea Mario Mehren in the press release:

”In recent months, limitations imposed by the Russian government on operations of Western companies in the country and external interferences in our joint venture operations, made it impossible for Wintershall Dea to operate in Russia as before and resulted in an economic expropriation of the joint ventures in Russia.”

Among these holding is 35% interest in the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field, 50% shareholding in two Siberian gas projects collectively known as Achimov, and a 15.5% position in gas pipeline Nord Stream and WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG.

Put together, Wintershall Dea will record a ”non-cash charge” of approx. EUR 5.3bn. 

This is not the first time Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacts Wintershall Dea.

In March 2022, the company booked an impairment of EUR 1.1bn tied to investments in Nord Stream 2. At the time, Wintershall Dea noted that the company would stop any new activities in Russia as well as shelve all plans for new activities.

The company reports to have been able to maintain its financial flexibility in spite of the impairment loss.