The niche vacated by western companies unable to work in the Russian energy sector due to sanctions will be filled by other companies, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the Rossiya 24 TV channel on September 17, 2016.
“In my view, foreign companies and foreign investors suffer more from the sanctions because the Russian market is sufficiently large,” he said. “If such companies are unable to work with our Russian companies, then this market niche will be filled by other companies. We now see that these developments have been taking place for the last two years,” he said.
The sectoral sanctions list created by the United States includes firms related to Gazprombank, among them LLC Achim Development, via which BASF/Wintershall owns a 25.01 percent-stake in the project to develop blocks 4A and 5A of the Achimov deposits of the Urengoi field. Gazprom owns 51 percent of Achim Development. Another 24.98-percent stake has been set aside for Gazprom Achim B.V. Gazprom is in talks to transfer this stake to Austria’s OMV as part of an asset swap.
Industry sources say the inclusion of Achim Development in the sanctions list could limit the opportunity for OMV to acquire the stake.
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