MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. The Russian authorities have not yet received any bids for Shell's stake in the Sakhalin 2 oil and gas project, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that applications can be submitted after the completion of reorganization procedures.

"So far there have been no applications on this account. But there is still enough time, reorganization procedures are still underway. When they are completed, some applications will appear," he said.

Novak added that the assessment of damage from the activities of foreign shareholders in the Sakhalin-2 project has not yet been completed and can be completed in the near future.

On June 30, 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree under which a Russian stock company would replace Sakhalin Energy as the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project. On August 2, 2022, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree establishing Sakhalinskaya Energiya, the new operator of Sakhalin 2. The company was registered on August 5.

Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi agreed to keep their stake in Sakhalin-2, but Shell, which has a 27.5% stake in the project, said it would not have any stake in the new company. Now Shell's stake is to be valued and sold, and the money from the sale is to be transferred to a special account. Under the decree, the further sale of any stake in the Sakhalinskaya Energiya can only be made to a Russian legal entity.

Earlier, Russian independent gas producer Novatek expressed interest in the project.