CEO says OMV sees problems with leaving Yuzhno-Russkoye JV

MOSCOW, Jul 28 (PRIME) -- Austria’s OMV is still considering leaving a joint venture that develops the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas condensate field in Russia, but there are legal obstacles, CEO Alfred Stern said in a news conference on Friday.

“The current legal situation means that the company faces difficulties with leaving,” he said.

“We are still considering a way for withdrawing from the Yuzhno-Russkoye field.”

Severneftegazprom is the operator of the Yuzhno-Russkoye field. Besides OMV with a stake of 25%, the shareholders include Russian gas giant Gazprom with a 40% stake and Wintershall Holding GmbH, a subsidiary of Germany’s BASF AG, with 35%.

In 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that restricted Gazprom’s purchases of natural gas from its joint ventures with OMV and Wintershall that develop the Urengoiskoye and Yuznho-Russkoye field if the liabilities exceeds the threshold defined by the government. OMV said in March 2022 that it cancelled all future investment in Russia.

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