“Those who leave the market, either sell or transfer their assets, everything depends on the negotiations. But there has not been nor there is a confiscation process,” the Kremlin press secretary stressed.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to create Russian companies to which will be transferred the rights of Severneftegazprom, the operator of the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas condensate field, as well as Gazprom YURGM Trading.

According to a presidential decree, at the end of 2022, Gazprom was limited from purchasing gas from joint ventures with OMV and Wintershall, with which the company produces in the Urengoy and Yuzhno-Russkoye fields, if the size of the obligations exceeds the limit set by the government.

Since the start of the military operation on February 24th, 2022, foreign companies and consortiums left the Russian market to avoid sanctions under pressure from their governments in the West.

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