TotalEnergies won’t work with Putin, refuses to write off Russian assets
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The CEO TotalEnergiesOn Saturday, the company defended its refusal to leave Russia fully but stated that it will never trade with Russia. President Vladimir Putin again.
CNBC’s Hadley Gamble interviewed Patrick Pouyanne. He stated that he wasn’t prepared to sell the Russian assets of TotalEnergies because it would mean giving them away to Putin.
“What should we do about the assets that are already in our possession? … I am not ready to give them for zero to Russian people, to Russian oligarchs … because by the way, it would be contrary of the sanctions,” he said on a CNBC-moderated panel at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
“These assets are already mine, they will not be given to Putin at no cost. This is why it’s important to leave today.
The French company has faced criticism for its refusal to write off its oil gas assets in Russia — for example its stakes in Russian gas producers Novatek and Yamal — like its rivals Shell and BP. Shell could lose $3B on Russian assets, while BP may have to write down around $25B.
Pouyanne, however, argued that the term “written off” really “means absolutely nothing” and was merely an accounting practice.
Pouyanne responded to rival energy companies’ exit plans by saying: “They do whatever they want. I am doing what.” [we]”Want,” but said he didn’t know the details of how they would exit the country. I would love my coworkers to tell me what they plan to do.
TotalEnergies stated this week, instead of declaring a complete exit from Russia that it would no more provide capital and not renew Russian gasoil or crude supply contracts. Pouyanne, a panel member said Saturday: “We are against the aggression by Russia against Ukraine and we strongly condemn it.”
He added: “We will not work with President Putin — make a difference please between Russia and Putin.”
TotalEnergies stated Tuesday that abandoning these interests would benefit Russian investors and be in contravention to sanctions. It added that Russian law and sanctions prevent the company finding non-Russian buyers of these assets.
“We created a… monstrosity.”
Pouyanne suggested that Europe must learn lessons from Russia’s dependence on Russian natural gas. According to International Energy Agency, 45% of EU’s gas came from Russia in 2013.
Given Europe’s decision for low-cost Russian options, he stated that “it’s true” they created a dependency on them. This is a lesson to all of us.
Putin said Europe was not forced to purchase Russia’s natural gas. “We preferred the lowest-cost energy. “Yes, we made a kind of monster. But on both sides you’ll see.”
He said that the people should now consider what they will pay to secure their energy supply without Russia.
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