Fortum not planning to return to Russia, will continue asset sales as soon as possible - report

MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - Fortum no longer operates in Russia and does not plan to return to the country, the Finnish energy concern said in a report.

The company intends to resume the process of selling assets as a top priority option as soon as it becomes possible, it said.

Fortum CEO Markus Rauramo previously said during discussions with shareholders that the company assumes it still owns the Russian asset and is monitoring the situation in Russia. Fortum was already in the process of selling its Russian assets and saw interest in them, but did not receive approval for the deal from the Russian government, he said.

Over the past two years, the company has received no information on the operational and financial performance of its subsidiary Fortum Energy . "We have no idea what is happening in the company, so we have written off this asset," Rauramo said.

Fortum is currently also involved in two legal proceedings related to Russia. The first lawsuit was filed against the country, demanding compensation for investment and the value of Fortum Energy shares. The second concerns intra-group loans worth approximately 600 million euros issued to the Russian subsidiary.

Fortum was one of the largest foreign investors in Russia's electric power industry. The Finnish concern in Russia owns 98.23% of PJSC Forward Energo, which has been under the management of Russia's Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo) since April 2023; and around 30% of PJSC TGK-1 , whose principal shareholder is Gazprom Energoholding. Fortum was also one of the largest investors in Russian wind power. Fortum decided in 2023 to write off its Russian assets completely and deconsolidate them in its financial statements.