Wintershall Dea and Russia: Fossil business at any cost

The war in Ukraine reveals in a brutal way the consequences of Germany's fossil fuel dependency on Putin's regime. The international voices to cut these fossil ties are growing by the day. Many oil and gas producing companies - such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil - have already pulled out of Russia.

Against this backdrop, Germany’s largest oil and gas company, Wintershall Dea, is holding on to its fossil business in Russia, where it has been taking advantage of the country’s political repression and fracking-friendly legislation for over 30 years. In response to the invasion, the fossil giant announced merely that it would not undertake additional oil and gas projects in Russia, which is extremely underwhelming – to say the least – considering that nearly half of the company’s total production takes place in Russia. Wintershall Dea has been working very closely with Gazprom since 1990, with current joint ventures in and outside of Russia. Additionally, until the start of the Russian invasion, the company was involved in the biggest fossil project in Europe, Nord Stream 2, having invested more than 730 million euros in its construction.

In this event, we will delve deeper into Wintershall Dea’s business model, its fossil ventures in Russia and its relationship with Gazprom, the repression faced by climate activists and civil society, as well as the violent effects of the oil and gas industry on the livelihoods of indigenous people in Russia.

Speakers include long-time energy campaigners Sonja Meister (Urgewald e.V.) and Vladimir Slivyak (Ecodefense; Right Livelihood Award 2021), and the indigenous rights defender Johannes Rohr (Institute for Ecology and Action Anthropology). The event will be facilitated by Kathrin Petz (Urgewald e.V.).

Please note that the event will be held in English with no translation and that the session will be recorded.

Event organised by Urgewald. e.V., Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. and Andy Gheorghiu Consulting.

Register for the online event here.