Kremlin warns it could widen foreign company seizures
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that Russia could widen the list of foreign companies subject to temporary asset seizures in case of the "expropriation" of Russian assets abroad. The comments came after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree approving the takeover of operations of two Western energy groups in Russia – Finland's Fortum and Germany's Uniper – and threatened to do the same with others. "If necessary, the list of companies could be expanded," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, a day after Putin signed a decree allowing asset seizures. "The aim of the decree is to create a compensation fund for the possible adoption of retaliatory measures against the illegal expropriation of Russian assets abroad," Peskov said. The new legislation means that owners will not be deprived of their property but will "no longer have the right to make management decisions", according to Rosimushchestvo, the Russian federal agency named as the "temporary manager" of assets seized. Putin's decision to send troops to Ukraine in February 2022 triggered unprecedented sanctions and an exodus of foreign corporations from the country, including Starbucks and McDonalds. Fortum said on Wednesday that the CEO of its Russian unit, PAO Fortum, had been replaced. The firm "considered the appointment of the new CEO to be confirmation that the new presidential decree is being enacted and Fortum's subsidiary has been put under temporary asset management." In a separate statement, new CEO Vyacheslav Kozhevnikov said business operations would continue as normal. Recently-nationalised German group Uniper has a nearly 84 percent stake in Russia-listed Unipro, it said, adding that it had already decided to sell the stake in 2021. "Uniper has de facto no longer been able to exercise operational control over Unipro since the end of 2022," the company said in a statement. "In balance sheet terms, Unipro has been deconsolidated and practically completely written off since the end of 2022." Uniper was left facing bankruptcy after the war in Ukraine sent gas prices soaring and Russia's Gazprom halted exports. The company booked a huge net loss of 19.1 billion euros in 2022, as it scrambled to buy gas on spot markets at vastly higher prices. The German government stepped in to rescue the crucial energy provider in December, fearing its failure could send shockwaves through Europe's top economy. (AFP)