April 26, 2023
April 25 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed
a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of two foreign energy
firms, signaling Moscow could take similar action against other companies if
need be.
The decree - outlining possible retaliation if Russian assets
abroad are seized - showed Moscow had already taken action against Uniper
SE's (UN01.DE) Russian division and the assets of
Finland's Fortum Oyj (FORTUM.HE).
The decree said Russia
needed to take urgent measures to respond to unspecified actions from the
United States and others it said were "unfriendly and contrary to
international law".
The shares in the two
entities have been placed in the temporary control of Rosimushchestvo, the
federal government property agency, the decree said.
In February, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia should bear the costs of damage
caused by its war on Ukraine, adding though there were "significant legal obstacles" to confiscating major frozen Russian
assets.
The CEO of state-owned
bank Bank VTB PAO (VTBR.MM) had on Monday said Russia should consider taking over and managing the assets of foreign
companies such as Fortum, only returning them when sanctions are lifted.
Rosimushchestvo said
more foreign firms could find their assets under temporary Russian control,
TASS reported. The agency would ensure the assets were run in accordance with
their importance for the economy.
"The decree does
not concern ownership issues and does not deprive owners of their assets.
External management is temporary in nature and means the original owner no
longer has the right to make management decisions," TASS cited the agency
as saying.
Last October European
Council President Charles Michel said the EU was looking at using Russian assets frozen under sanctions against Moscow towards
rebuilding Ukraine.
Asset sales by
investors from "unfriendly" countries - as Moscow terms those that
imposed sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine - require
approval from a government commission and, in some cases, the president.
In February, Uniper
valued its majority stake in Russian division Unipro at a symbolic 1 euro to reflect the likely chance a planned
sale to a Russian buyer would fall through. Fortum had already warned
shareholders there was a risk its Russian assets could be expropriated.
Reporting by David
Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/putin-signs-decree-taking-over-russian-assets-two-foreign-firms-2023-04-25/
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