Do large French companies still have a place in Russia? At a time when the Minister of the Economy estimates on France info that “we are going to wage a total economic and financial war on Russia” and that “we are going to cause the collapse of the Russian economy”, what regarding the large French companies which are widely established in the country?
“There is a problem of principle in working with any political or economic figure close to Russian power,” he added, pointing to TotalEnergies or Engie. And to add: “I will discuss it with the president of Total, Patrick Pouyanné and with the general manager of Engie, Catherine MacGregor. »
In recent days, the British BP and the Dutch Shell or the Norwegian Equinor have announced that they will cease their activities in Russia by withdrawing from projects with Rosneft or Gazprom. For the time being, TotalEnergies has just announced on Tuesday that it “will no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia”, in the midst of the war with Ukraine, without however withdrawing from projects in which it is currently invested. The group says it “approves the scope and strength of the sanctions put in place by Europe and will implement them regardless of the consequences (being assessed) on the management of its assets in Russia”.
In addition, the group says it is “mobilized to provide fuel to the Ukrainian authorities and aid to Ukrainian refugees in Europe”. A situation that investors had already anticipated, with a title down nearly 8% for a week.
Engie involved in the project of the Russian giant Gazprom
It must be said that Total has been heavily invested in Russia since 1991 following the fall of the USSR with various projects in liquefied natural gas in Siberia or in the Artic LNG2 project with the Russian Novatek in which it is a shareholder with nearly 20%. . The problem is that the company is run by Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, present on the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. For TotalEnergies, however, Russia weighs only 3 to 5% of its revenues. In 2020, it represented 16.6% of TotalEnergies’ annual liquids and natural gas production, with 175 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mteb) out of a total of 1,051 million barrels.
The Engie group for its part is involved in the project of the Russian giant Gazprom of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline which makes it possible to bypass Ukrainian territory to deliver Russian gas to Europe. It was co-financed by five European energy groups, including Engie (with OMV, Wintershall Dea, Uniper, Shell). The French thus displays an exposure of 987 million euros in this project.
Other groups are also in the hot seat. EDF has just bought out the nuclear activities of General Electric, which has the Russian Rosatom as its first customer. Same thing for Framatome which collaborates with this company. In total, more than 500 French companies (including 35 CAC 40 groups) operate in Russia, according to the French Ministry of the Economy.
