Because of the war on Ukraine, international energy companies expand the withdrawal of their investments and ban their sales to Russia

International companies in the energy, minerals and services sectors expanded the scope of withdrawing their investments and banning their sales to Russia in the wake of its war on neighboring Ukraine, at a time when some Russian institutions announced counter-moves.

The Italian energy group Eni said it intends to sell its stake in the "Blue Stream" pipeline to transport Russian gas to Turkey, which it shares with Russia's Gazprom.

The move follows a decision by rivals Shell and BB to exit their positions in resource-rich Russia in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

In email comments, Eni said its joint ventures with Russia's Rosneft had already been frozen following international sanctions imposed in 2014, adding that "Eni's current presence in Russia is marginal."

Eni holds long-term strategic contracts for Russian gas, and in 2020, its gas purchases from Russia amounted to about 22.5 billion cubic meters.

And earlier today, Wednesday, the French group "Total Energies" condemned Moscow's military actions, but it did not reach the point of following the example of "Shell" and "BP" to exit from Russia.

In Italy, too, Al Jazeera Net learned from a reliable parliamentary source that stopping Italian investment in the natural gas liquefaction project in the Guidan Peninsula in the Siberian Arctic will be among the priorities of accountability to the Italian parliaments in the Monte Chitorio Palace (the seat of the House of Representatives in Rome).

The source added that the Italian ambassador to Moscow, Giorgio Staras, was summoned to be heard in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

He could be questioned by parliamentarians about investment issues in the Guidan Peninsula natural gas liquefaction project.

 ExxonMobil suspends its current operations in Russia

In the United States, the American oil giant, ExxonMobil, said on Tuesday that it would halt its current operations in Russia due to its war on neighboring Ukraine.

"We regret the Russian military action, which violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and puts its people at risk," the company said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives, we support a strong international response, and we fully comply with all sanctions," she added.

"ExxonMobil supports the people of Ukraine as they strive to defend their freedom and determine their future as a nation," the statement added.

The American company manages the gas project "Sakhalin-1" on behalf of an international consortium that includes Japanese, Indian and Russian companies.

"In response to recent events, we have started the process of stopping operations and putting in place steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 project," the statement added. ExxonMobil has been operating in Russia for decades, and owns 30% of the project.

The American company said that given the current situation, it would not invest in new developments in Russia.

Boeing suspends spare parts, Apple halts sales

For its part, the US aircraft maker Boeing said Tuesday that it will suspend the sale of spare parts, maintenance and technical support to Russian airlines, and will also suspend major operations in Moscow after Russia's war on Ukraine.

"As the conflict continues, our teams are focused on ensuring the safety of our colleagues in the region," a Boeing spokesperson said.

This came a day after the company announced it was suspending operations in its Moscow training zone and temporarily closing its office in Kyiv.

Apple also announced yesterday that it has stopped all sales of its products in Russia in response to its war on Ukraine.

"We are deeply concerned about Russia's war on Ukraine, and we stand with all the people suffering as a result of the violence," the company said in a statement.

"We support humanitarian endeavours and provide assistance to the crumbling refugee crisis, and are doing everything we can to support our team in the region," she added.

Apple outlined a number of steps in response to the military operations, including halting all exports to its sales channels in Russia, and the company said Apple Pay and other services were being restricted.

 Russian counter-moves

In a counter-move, Russian steelmaker Severstal suspended sales to Europe (its largest overseas market) after the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian billionaire owner Alexei Mordashov, along with a number of other billionaires in Russia.

And Bloomberg News Agency quoted an informed source - who declined to be identified - as saying that the Russian company - which exports about 3 million tons annually to Europe - is looking for alternative markets for its products after it was forced to stop its sales to Europe.

Sberbank (the largest Russian bank included in the US and European sanctions list) also decided to leave the European market.

And the Russian “Interfax” agency quoted the bank as saying in a statement that “the branches of the banks of the group are recording abnormal flows of funds, as well as the security threat to employees and headquarters, and Sberbank of Russia has become unable to supply bank branches in Europe with liquidity due to the instructions of the Central Bank of Russia.”