What happened? russian president vladimir putin has signed a decree transferring the assets of Sakhalin Energy to the state.
Source. This is stated on the official portal of juridical information of russia.
Details. putin's decree, that was issued “due to the unfriendly actions of some foreign states and international organizations,” states, in particular, that all rights and responsibilities of Sakhalin Energy are transferred to the russian limited liability company established by the russian government. However, it is noted that the russian government will not be its co-founder or participant.
The need of transferring Sakhalin Energy's assets to state ownership is justified by “the threat of a natural and man-made emergency, the threat to human life and safety, the threat to russia's national interests and security, that have arisen from the breach of obligations by certain foreign legal and physical persons”.
The company Sakhalin Energy was founded in 1994. It is developing the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil and Lunskoye natural gas fields in the Okhotsk Sea on the Sakhalin Island.
In addition to Gazprom, which owns a package of 50% of shares plus one share in Sakhalin Energy, shares of the company were divided between British-Dutch Shell (27.5% of shares minus one share), Japanese companies Mitsui (12.5%) and Mitsubishi (10%).
According to the decree, the shares of foreign enterprises will be transferred to the newly created company. The same new company will receive the property of Sakhalin Energy for free use.