Value of shares of France's Engie in Nord Stream plummets by €474mln

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Feb 2023 12:02
2 Shares

The French energy giant owns 9% of shares in the Nord Stream AG company.

Office building for French energy giant Engie (Engie website)

The value of shares owned by French energy giant Engie in the Nord Stream AG plummeted by 474 million euros since 2022 to reach 90 million euros, according to the company's annual report published on Tuesday.

"The minority interest held by the group in Nord Stream AG is now valued at €90 million, down €474 million compared to December 31, 2021. This decrease is a result of damage to the pipeline and due to the heightened risk profile of Nord Stream’s single customer, Gazprom," the report said, pointing out that impairment loss on the loan financing the project shares amounted to 987 million euros.

Along with owning the largest gas transport chain in Europe and being the continent's biggest operator of gas storage facilities, Engie is also one of the shareholders of Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Russian Gazprom owns 51%, Norwegian Wintershall Dea and UK E.ON own 15.5% each, in addition to Gusanie from the Netherlands and France's Engie at 9% each.

On September 26, explosions targeted three of the four strings of Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater gas pipelines, which are designed to transport a total of 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe each year.

Russia's State Duma announced last week that the federal assembly will submit an appeal to the United Nations requesting an investigation into the bombings that targeted the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022.

The proposed document holds the administration of US President Joe Biden fully responsible for the sabotage of the pipelines, which resulted in billions of dollars worth of losses.

China backed Russia's request at the UN for an international investigation and also called for an impartial investigation into the sabotage act against the pipelines and for those responsible to be brought to justice.