Uniper sells participation in Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field
- Purchase price of EUR 1,749 million agreed for Uniper’s participation
- Deleveraging target effectively achieved well ahead of schedule
Uniper Exploration & Production GmbH, Düsseldorf (Uniper), has signed an agreement with Austrian oil and gas company OMV Exploration & Production GmbH (OMV) for the sale of its interest in the Russian gas field Yuzhno-Russkoye. The purchase price for Uniper’s participation amounts to EUR 1,749 million (USD 1,850 million) plus cash on balance sheet per 31 December 2016.
Uniper holds an interest of approx. 25% in Yuzhno-Russkoye via participations in OJSC Severneftegazprom and JSC Gazprom YRGM Development. OMV will acquire 100% of Uniper’s interest in both companies.
Yuzhno-Russkoye is one of the giant Russian gas fields in Western Siberia operated by a joint venture with Russian Gazprom and German Wintershall. The field was commissioned in 2007 and is on plateau production of 25 bcm/a since 2009.
Klaus Schäfer, CEO of Uniper SE: "The sale of the Yuzhno-Russkoye stake will enable us to effectively achieve our deleveraging target well ahead of schedule. At the same time the disposal does not impact our strategy, as the E&P business was no longer at the core of our future development. We have valued the joint ownership with Gazprom and Wintershall over more than seven years as an excellent and trustful partnership, and at the same time we are convinced that the sale of our stake to an experienced E&P company like OMV will allow for a smooth transition. Even after the sale of Yuzhno-Russkoye we will remain active in the Russian energy market where we generate roughly 5% of Russian electricity production through our majority stake in one of Russia’s largest private generators, Unipro. And our historic partnership with Gazprom will not be affected as we jointly continue to secure gas supplies to Europe for the next decades."
The consummation of the transaction is subject to the required regulatory approvals of the competent Russian authorities as well as co-shareholder consent. The transaction is anticipated to close by year end and will be retroactively effective as of January 1, 2017.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Uniper Group management and other information currently available to Uniper. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. Uniper SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
