Effective management of suspended assets of foreign companies to be carried out by companies that suffered losses abroad - Moiseyev

MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - The Russian assets of foreign companies suspended from managing local assets consistent with this week's presidential decree will instead be managed by Russian companies that suffered from the actions of unfriendly nations abroad, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said.

The decree was issued on Tuesday, April 25, with the first two companies affected being Fortum PJSC and Unipro PJSC . According to the document, the controlling stakes in these companies are transferred from Fortum and Uniper to Rosimushchestvo for temporary management.

Moiseyev told journalists that Rosimuschestvo "has in general terms accomplished its tasks, reelecting its board of directors and appointing new directors."

On Wednesday, it was announced that new managers had been appointed to Fortum and Unipro, both representing Rosneft Group companies (Vyacheslav Kozhevnikov and Vasily Nikonov, respectively).

"The design of the presidential decree is such that, in fact, management will be carried out by companies that suffered from the actions of unfriendly countries," Moiseyev said, noting that both executives are from Rosneft.

"That is to say, those who suffered are those who will be in charge," he said.

As reported, in September, the German government pursuant to a law on energy security has undertaken trust management of Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH. As such, the German Federal Network Agency gained control of Rosneft's subsidiary and its shares in three refineries: PCK Raffinerie (Schwedt), MiRo (Karlsruhe) and Bayernoil (Vogburg). Rosneft Deutschland accounts for about 12% of German refining capacity and is one of the largest players in the local fuel market.

The German government said it was prompted by the need to ensure uninterrupted oil supplies to the country amid the unprecedented energy crisis due to the conflict in Ukraine. Rosneft, which insists that it has fulfilled its obligations to supply feedstock to the refineries in full, challenged the German government's decision to sell these assets. In March this year, Germany's highest administrative court ruled that the transfer of three Rosneft refineries to the state for trust management was legal, thus rejecting the company's claims.