OMV to take $2.17 billion hit due to Russia exit

Austrian energy conglomerate OMV will take a $2.17 billion (2 billion euro) hit in the first quarter of 2022 as it seeks to distance itself and its business from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, the company said on Friday.

Last month, the Austrian oil and gas company said Russia would no longer be one of its core regions, joining other Western energy rivals in pulling back from Russia.

OMV has written off 1 billion euros in March in connection with the now-suspended Nord Stream 2 pipeline project from Russia to Germany, the company said in a first quarter trading update.  Adjustments to the consolidation method of two Russian entities through which it holds a 24.99 percent interest in the Yuzhno Russkoye gas-field would also result in a further 1 billion euro hit, the company said.

Earlier this month, OMV and Russia’s Gazprom held initial talks about paying for natural gas in rubles, as Austria conveyed to Russia that there was no basis for payment in any currency other than euros or dollars. Since the global backlash to the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded foreign buyers to pay for gas in rubles or risk having their supplies cut off.

Russia has been a key region for OMV, one of Gazprom’s five Western finance partners in the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.