Fortum was one of the largest foreign investors in Russia’s electricity and power sector. The book value of its assets in the country was approximately EUR 1.7 billion at the end of last year.
Fortum on Wednesday informed that its Russian subsidiary Fortum PAO has appointed a new CEO by decision of its board. According to that, the appointment can be seen as a confirmation that the presidential decree is being enacted and that the subsidiary has been transferred to temporary asset management.
The company added that it continues to investigate the situation and will provide more information when it is available and confirmed.
Haavisto stated to public radio that it is still unclear which laws govern the “socialization of companies” in Russia.
“This is a new development and we need to investigate carefully,” he said.
Fortunately, many Finnish companies have already closed their operations in the country and possibly received some kind of compensation for their departure, Haavisto pointed out.
The European Union has frozen the assets of the Russian state and oligarchs in response to the war of aggression in Ukraine. According to Haavisto, the 27-nation bloc is seriously considering ways to transfer such assets to Ukraine, which is a form of compensation for the destruction caused by Russia.
President Sauli Niinistö on Thursday described the seizure of Fortum’s Russian assets as “quite confiscating” during his visit to Namibia, Africa.
“I think this looks like an end point in the minds of quite a few investors. The most critical thing about investing is that your investment is safe and the second most critical thing is that it produces something. Russia has sent a signal that you absolutely should not come here [to invest],” he was quoted saying from YLE.
The presidential decree enabling confiscation has been interpreted by experts as a countermeasure or a response to sanctions and confiscations implemented by European countries.
“Some spokesmen seem to have felt that this is a response to tough new sanctions being planned by the G7. It would beg the question why [target] Finnish company. We are not a G7 country, Niinistö said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page