This week the great news is that Italy's biggest manufacturer and distributor of energy and gas, Enel SpA, will sell in the next three months its 56.43% stake in Russia to local investors. Established in Russia in 2004, the Italian group will follow similar moves by the world's biggest energy companies, such as Shell and BP after Russian government's invasion of East Ukraine.
In addition, the deal is expected to have a positive effect on the group's consolidated net debt of about 550 million euros. The global reach of the Italian biggest utility extends from Europe to Latin America and India, that's why the company's ordinary financial results would not be affected by the deal to sell the stake in the Russian subsidiary.
Its easy to forecast that other Western multinational companies, which have been established in Russia since long time, are going to do the same.
A changing world before our eye. From the US https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-does-the-u-s-still-buy-russian-oil-11646151935
ReplyDeleteOh no, I would have never thought of such thing ... US refiners balked at buying Russian oil two months after Ukraine war had begun.
DeleteWe have seen such inconsistent behavior in Italy too, with regard to Russian gas and other commodities. Unfortunately, two landlocked countries in the EU, Hungary and Slovakia, have no choice but to continue to import energy from Russia. Gas and oil can't be shipped to Hungary and Slovakia from Middle East or North Africa (Algeria and Libya), as those two countries are located in the middle of Europe.
Thank you for sharing the Wall Street Journal's article, Nicole.
Have a nice weekend!