The presidential press service published a statement explaining that the Government’s measure responds to “the threat of an emergency situation of a natural and technogenic nature, as well as for the life and safety of people and for the national interests and the security of Russia.”

The statement also argues that these threats arose as a result of a violation of the obligations by “certain foreign legal and natural persons.”

The decree establishes that the shareholders of the current operator of Sakhalin-2 must notify the Russian authorities one month in advance of their possible interest in owning shares in the new operator, in a proportion equivalent to the current one.

Sakhalin-2 is a production-sharing oil and gas project based on the Russian island of Sakhalin, operated by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, headquartered in Russia.

It includes the development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil field and the Lunskoye natural gas field on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, and associated infrastructure on land.

The controlling stake, 50 percent plus one share, was held by the Russian energy company Gazprom, while 27.5 percent belonged to the British multinational oil and gas company Shell, while the Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi had a stake of 12.5 and 10 percent, respectively.

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