The French group will no longer count its 19.4 % share in the Russian leader in natural gas liquefied at the price of 3.5 billion euros in depreciation. However, he continues to deliver to Europe, which has not decreed any sanctions.
by Jean-Michel Bezat
Totalenergies continues its disengagement from Russia, which began a few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, on February 24. The giant petro-gazier announced, Friday, December 9, the withdrawal of its two representatives on the board of directors of its PAO Novatek partner on Friday, December 9, “he said in a statement, recalling that he holds 19.4 % of the Russian gas company.
The group, led by Patrick Pouyanné, specifies that he had no more voice in the chapter on the board of directors of the first Russian producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), partners since 2011: its administrators had to Remember “given the European sanctions in force since the start of the conflict”. “Consequently, the criteria of notable influence no longer being fulfilled within the meaning of the accounting regulations” of totalnergies, he indicates, his participation will no longer be consolidated in the group accounts.
“This will lead to recognizing in the accounts of 4 e quarter 2022 a depreciation of approximately $ 3.7 billion” (3.5 billion euros). In addition, Totalenergies will no longer record reservations for its participation in the Novatek company, a proven loss of reserves of 1.7 billion barrels. The lifespan of the proven reserves of the multinational “remains greater than eleven years of production”, she specifies to reassure the markets.
under sanction by the European Union
For the time being, the French company retains its participation. “She is unable to yield [it], taking into account the agreements in force between shareholders, since she is prohibited from selling assets to one of the main shareholders of Novatek because of the sanctions targeting him.” This shareholder , which has a right of pre -emption, is none other than the Russian oligarch Guennadi Timtchenko, long -standing friend of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
holder of 23 % of Novatek, Mr. Timtchenko had resigned from the board of directors, on March 21, without giving an official reason. But from the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he had been placed under sanction by the European Union; It was already by the American administration since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
Unlike Gazprom and Rosneft, the first two Russian hydrocarbon companies closely controlled by the State, Novatek is a private group, founded and chaired by Leonid Mikhelson, a billionaire deemed close to the Kremlin. But it is a strategic company for Moscow, which has lagged behind in LNG compared to Qatar and the United States.
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