Russia Files Lawsuit Against Shell Units, Court Documents Show

Russia’s Prosecutor General has filed a lawsuit against a number of energy major Shell’s units, court documents showed on Friday.

The lawsuit, filed with Moscow’s Arbitration Court on Oct. 2, was addressed to eight Shell units. The documents indicated it had been launched by Gazprom Export, the Russian energy ministry, regional authorities on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, Sakhalin Energy, and the office of Russia’s Prosecutor General.

No additional details were given. Shell declined to comment.

Shell had several projects in Russia before Moscow sent its army into Ukraine in February 2022 in what it called a special military operation. The company had a stake in a liquefied natural gas producing plant on the Pacific island of Sakhalin led by Kremlin-controlled Gazprom.

Russia consolidated its control over the plant in response to sanctions imposed by the West, and Shell left Russia. That meant it ended its involvement with the Sakhalin plant, as well as other activities such as its investments in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.