MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has banned investors from so-called unfriendly countries from selling shares in key energy projects and banks until the end of the year, stepping up pressure in the sanctions stand-off with the West.
Western countries and allies, including Japan, have piled financial restrictions on Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine in late February. Moscow retaliated with obstacles for Western businesses and their allies leaving Russia, and in some cases seized their assets.
The decree kremlin.ru/acts/news/69117, signed by President Vladimir Putin and published on Friday, immediately bans investors from countries which supported sanctions on Russia from selling their assets in production sharing agreements (PSA), banks, strategic entities, companies producing energy equipment, as well as in other projects, from oil and gas production to coal and nickel.
Putin could issue a special waiver in certain cases for the deals to go ahead, the decree said, and the government and the central bank should prepare a list of banks for the Kremlin’s approval. The decree mentioned no investors by name.
TAKING THE HIT
The ban covers almost all big financial and energy projects where foreign investors still have stakes, including the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.
On Thursday, Russian state oil champion Rosneft blamed ExxonMobil for falling output at the Sakhalin-1 group of fields, after the U.S. energy major said it was in the process of transferring its 30% stake “to another party.”
Hey how deep is deep s—t? Let’s see how that effects the OFS deal for the Russia business? Better get your a— over to Moscow to broker a cents on the dollar sale of Russia OFS while you still can?