MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. German Wintershall Dea, one of the largest oil and gas companies in Europe, plans to complete the legal separation of its international business from joint ventures with Russia by mid-2024, the company said in a report.

"The company is currently implementing its complete withdrawal from Russia. As a part of this process, Wintershall Dea is legally separating its Russian business. Wintershall Dea’s international E&P business and its carbon management and hydrogen activities are to be separated from all joint ventures with Russian participations. Those include shareholdings in joint ventures in Russia, its shareholding in Wintershall AG in Libya (51% share), in Wintershall Noordzee BV in the Netherlands (50% share) and its shares in Nord Stream AG (15.5% share)," the company said.

"The legal separation of our international business from the Russian joint ventures is a further step in this process," Wintershall Dea’s CEO Mario Mehren said. The legal separation is planned to be completed by mid-2024, the statement said.

On January 17, Wintershall Dea announced its intention to leave Russia. Wintershall will exit its assets in the country in accordance with current legal obligations and will record a loss of 5.3 bln euro from the deconsolidation of joint ventures in Russia.

Wintershall Dea was one of the financial investors of Nord Stream 2. It is a shareholder of the Nord Stream gas pipeline operator (15.5%), owns 25.01% in the Achim Development joint project with Gazprom (74.99%), as well as, together with Gazprom and the Austrian OMV, manages the Severneftegazprom joint venture, which develops the Yuzhno-Russkoye field.