The gas giant gave no details or explanation of its decision to terminate its participation in Gazprom Germania GMBH and all of its assets, which include subsidiaries in Britain, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
"I think Gazprom understands it is going to face a hostile political and regulatory environment in Europe and therefore wants to consolidate and conduct all of its business in one place – St Petersburg, most likely with the political support of the Russian government." It was unclear whether the German government would want to step in and mandate someone to run these, in order to achieve desired filling levels, and whether that could trigger legal opposition by Gazprom, the source said. Astora did not immediately reply to a request for comment.