PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) – French utility Engie said it had credit risk exposure of up to 987 million euros ($1.10 billion) on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. that could materialize, particularly in the event of a bankruptcy filing.
The announcement came hours after German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea [RIC:RIC:WINT.UL]which is also invested in the pipeline project blocked by Germany in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said it would stop payments to Russia and cancel funding positions worth 1 billion euros.
Other backers of the Gazprom-led pipeline are German utility Uniper (UN01.DE), Austrian OMV (OMVV.VI), as well as Shell (SHEL.L), which has already announced a writedown of its contribution .
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The French gas and industrial services giant Engie, a quarter of which is owned by the French state, has come under pressure in recent days over its trade relations with Russia.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday he would discuss the issues with the chief executive of Engie.
The Mayor told French radio on Tuesday that he felt “there is now a problem of principle in working with any political or economic figure close to Russian power”.
Engie did not specify what its next steps could be regarding its financial situation in Nord Stream 2.
“ENGIE does not carry out any industrial activity in Russia and no investment project is underway on Russian territory,” he added. ($1 = 0.9008 euros)
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Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta
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