Like the latter, Shell had maintained a presence in Russia over the past two decades despite growing geopolitical tensions, sometimes suffering setbacks but maintaining cordial relations with the authorities.

He had thus invested in the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which he now intends to offload.

"Our decision to leave was made with conviction," Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

"We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security," he said.

President Vladimir Putin (L) greets Shell CEO Ben van Beurden during a visit to the Kremlin in 2017 SERGEI KARPUKHIN POOL/AFP/Archives

In total, Shell's shares were worth three billion dollars at the end of 2021 and had generated an adjusted profit of $700 million last year.

Their sale will have a financial impact, leading to depreciation in the accounts, warned the group.

These shares included in particular the company's 27.5% stake in the gigantic Sakhalin-2 gas project in the Russian Far East, on an island near Japan, where the first liquefied natural gas production unit had been opened. in Russia.

The other projects concerned are the Siberian deposits of Salym and Guydan, in which Shell held 50%.

The group adds that it intends to end its investment in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, built but abandoned by Germany and sanctioned by the United States.

It had financed up to 10% of the 9.5 billion euros that the project had cost.

Sunday evening, it was BP which announced that it was disengaging from the semi-public Russian giant Rosneft.

He held 19.75% ($14 billion at the end of 2021).

The group had been present for more than 30 years in Russia and had been a shareholder of Rosneft since 2013.

He had invested heavily in Russia in the TNK-BP joint venture, which was very profitable but whose operation had been hampered by shareholder disputes which had led to the hasty departure from Russia of its then boss in 2008. The company had was then acquired by Rosneft, transforming the group majority-owned by the Russian state into a global juggernaut.

Shell has not escaped crisis situations with its Russian projects.

In 2007, the company lost control of Sakhalin-2 to Gazprom, amid the takeover of the country's valuable energy assets by the Russian state.

The group then had to agree to reduce its share, from 55 to 27.5%.

© 2022 AFP