The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office wants to recover 7.5 billion euros from Wintershall Dea through the court.
In its lawsuit against Wintershall Dea, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office wants to prohibit the German company from continuing or supporting arbitration proceedings against Russia. In case of violation of the ban, the Prosecutor General’s Office demands to recover €7.5 billion from each of the defendants – Wintershall Dea GmbH, the German law firm Aurelius Cotta, as well as jointly and severally from the three appointed international arbitrators (Charles Ponce, Hamid Gharavi and Olufunke Adekoya). This is reported by Interfax with reference to the text of the lawsuit.
The filing of the lawsuit became known today, April 17. Wintershall Dea in January 2023 announced the withdrawal from Russia. The German company owned 25.01% in the project for the development of two blocks of Achim deposits of the Urengoy field Achim Development and 35% in Severneftegazprom, its partner was Gazprom. At the end of 2023, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the sale of foreign shareholders’ stakes in joint ventures to LLCs established by the Russian government. In response, Wintershall Dea launched two arbitration proceedings in the fall of 2024, accusing Russia of expropriating its assets.