The announcement came after UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss
said more than three million Russian companies, including Gazprom, would be
unable to access funding from London-based financial institutions because of
new sanctions.
That will mean they will “no longer be able to issue debt or
equity in London”, she told parliament.
European football’s governing body UEFA also ended its
estimated 40-million-euro sponsorship deal with Gazprom and this season’s
Champions League final was moved from the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Shell said it
would sell its 27.5-percent stake in the oil and gas project Sakhalin-2, on
Sakhalhin island, in Russia’s far east.
It would also end its 50-percent interests in the Salym
oilfield development in western Siberia, and the Gydan exploration project in
the Gydan peninsula, in northwest Siberia.
Shell is one of five energy companies that has committed
financing for up to 10 percent of the estimated 9.5 billion total cost of the
Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany.
But the company said it also “intends to end its
involvement” with the project, after Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week
announced its suspension.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “We are shocked
by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless
act of military aggression which threatens European security.
“Our decision to exit is one we take with conviction. We
cannot — and we will not — stand by,” he added.
“Our immediate focus is the safety of our people in Ukraine
and supporting our people in Russia.
“In discussion with governments around the world we will
also work through the detailed business implications, including the importance
of secure energy supplies to Europe and other markets, in compliance with
relevant sanctions.”
On Sunday, BP announced it was pulling its 19.75-percent
stake in Rosneft, and chief executive Bernard Looney said he was resigning from
the Russian company’s board with immediate effect.
BP shares slumped on the markets on Monday, wiping billions
of dollars from the company’s value.
Shell said the value of its ventures with Gazprom was about
$3 billion and would be reflected on its balance sheet later this year.
AFP