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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Russia is seeking over $1 billion in damages from Shell, which quit the country in the aftermath of President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
It is the latest move in a fierce legal battle that follows Shell's decision to withdraw from Russia, which led to the company being hit with a $5 billion write-down on its assets.
Shell ended its involvement with the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas field plant on the Pacific island, where it had a 27.5 percent stake in the joint venture. On Tuesday, Russian state media reported that the Russian General Prosecutor's Office had filed a general lawsuit against Shell.
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Reached by Newsweek, a Shell spokesperson said, "We are not commenting."
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"They are seeking more than 1 billion euros [$1.09 billion] in damages," the court's press service told state news agency RIA Novosti when asked about the case, which has been scheduled for December 11.
The Moscow Arbitration Court named as defendants in the case eight entities of the Anglo-Dutch energy giant.
They are Shell PLC, Shell Energy Europe Limited, Shell Global Solutions International B.V., Shell International Exploration & Production Services, Shell Sakhalin Services B.V., Shell Sakhalin Holdings В.V., Shell Exploration & Production Services and Shell Oil and Gas Development LLC.
The court documents showed that the case had been launched by Gazprom Export, Russia's Energy Ministry, Sakhalin regional authorities and the prosecutor general.
Moscow has consolidated its control over the site in response to sanctions imposed by the West following Shell's departure from Russia. Last year, the Russian government seized the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas field assets and transferred them to a domestic entity.
All parties in the field, which included state-controlled energy giant Gazprom and Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi, were offered an equivalent stake in the new business, which Shell refused to agree to, prompting Moscow to sell off Shell's stake.
In its 2022 annual report, Shell said it intended to withdraw from its service station and lubricants operations in Russia, as well as other activities like its investment in the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project, which connects Russia and Germany.
Shell also said it would "withdraw in a phased manner from its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, gas and LNG, aligned with new government guidance."
In July 2023, the nongovernmental organization Global Witness criticized Shell for still trading Russian gas, saying that the company was involved in nearly 7 percent of Russia's shipborne gas exports in 2022, prompting a rebuke from Kyiv.
However, Shell said that the sales were the result of "long-term contractual commitments" and did not violate sanctions.
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