Reuters By Victoria Waldersee and Christoph Steitz 1/18/2023
• Summary
• Keeping Russian business "not tenable" -Wintershall Dea
• BASF unveils 7.3 billion euro non-cash impairment for 2022
• BASF flags 1.38 bln euro net loss in 2022
BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - BASF (BASFn.DE) will take a 7.3 billion euro ($7.9 billion) writedown as its Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) energy business pulls out of Russia, the German chemicals giant said, triggering a net loss for 2022.
Wintershall Dea has deep ties to Russia, including stakes in the Nord Stream gas pipelines and joint ventures with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM).
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment firm LetterOne owns a 27.3% stake in it.
"Continuing to operate in Russia is not tenable," Wintershall Dea CEO Mario Mehren said.
He added that limitations imposed by Russia on Western-owned assets had made it impossible to operate properly "and resulted in an economic expropriation of the joint ventures in Russia".
More:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/basf-suffers-14-mln-euro-net-loss-shutdown-wintershall-dea-russia-operations-2023-01-17/