“Kommersant reports on Spanish Repsol’s plans to leave the Russian market

The Spanish oil and gas company Repsol will leave Russia amid a change in its global strategy by selling its stakes in Eurotek-Yugra and ASB Geo to Gazprom Neft, Kommersant reported, citing sources. The transactions may be closed by the end of 2021 for a “symbolic” amount, the newspaper’s interlocutors specified. According to the data as of the beginning of this year, Repsol owned 68% of the joint venture Eurotek-Yugra and 50.01% of ASB Geo with Gazpromneft. The first of these companies holds prospecting and appraisal licenses for the Sverdlovsky, Kileysky, Karabashsky-3 and Karabashsky-9 blocks and two production licenses for Karabashsky-1 and Karabashsky-2, where the main asset of the project, the Ervier field, is located. The second venture is exploring at Karabashsky-10. In December 2019. “Kommersant” reported that Repsol asked the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy of Russia to transfer Eurotek-Yugra to additional income tax (AIT). The company considered this asset unprofitable under the current tax system. In October this year, Repsol announced its intention to move towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions by 15% by 2025. The company also wants to increase investment in green generation. Thus Repsol has become the first foreign organization which decided to withdraw from Russian assets “under the slogan of decarbonization”, writes “Kommersant”. According to the newspaper, Repsol’s investments in Russian assets amounted to at least $300m. Advance Capital’s managing director Karen Dashyan noted that the company was unlikely to recover these funds as part of the deals to exit Russia.