Germany approves RWE unit sale to Russian investor
Germany’s economy ministry will approve the sale of utility RWE’s (RWEG.DE) oil and gas unit DEA to a Russian investor despite tensions and sanctions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis, two people familiar with the matter said.
The economy ministry said in June it was investigating whether to block the 5.1 billion euro ($6.9 billion) sale of the DEA unit to the Letter One group of investors led by Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman, which was announced in March.
Representatives of the ministry, RWE and the Letter One consortium declined to comment.
As part of the deal, Fridman, Russia’s second-richest man, and his co-investors get stakes in about 190 oil and gas licenses or concessions in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
RWE has previously said it expects the deal, which has already got antitrust approval from the European Union, to be finalised this year.
Germany currently receives more than a third of its gas and oil from Russia.
Source: Reuters
