(News Bulletin 247) – The title of the engineering company drops on the Paris Stock Exchange after an investigation by the newspaper Le Monde concerning its involvement in a Russian gas mega-project in the context of international sanctions.

Technip Energies plunges 18% on the Paris Stock Exchange this Thursday, around 3:30 p.m., in reaction to a newspaper article The world revealing “how the engineering company limited its financial losses by delaying its exit from the Arctic LNG 2 plant site after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine”.

This conflict in fact placed companies established in Russia faced with a dilemma: either they simply ceased to carry out their activities in the country or they remained there in order to honor current contracts but without pursuing any new projects. Quickly, announcements of departures multiplied, such as Société Générale which sold its subsidiary Rosbank.

According to Le Monde, Technip Energies opted for the second option, because it “played big” in this contract valued at more than 7 billion euros, to supervise the engineering and construction of the Arctic LNG 2 plant site, in Russia and China. Exiting this project without the approval of its Russian client would have exposed Technip Energies “to heavy losses and penalties, even though it has already carried out millions of hours of work”, specifies the newspaper.

“We would have lost a lot of money”

“It was done in cooperation with the client because we couldn’t leave by slamming the door: we would have lost a lot of money,” declared a company executive to Le Monde.

Le Monde recalls that the Arctic LNG 2 project is “strategic” for Russia because this new gas liquefaction mega-plant should make it possible to increase the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by 60%. horizon of 2026.

Le Monde’s investigation also argues that the French group “not only prepared its exit, but also facilitated the continuation of the project while the United States and Europe sought, on the contrary, to hinder it”. Customs and satellite data and documents collected by Le Monde for its investigation also suggest that Technip Energies and other Western companies could have circumvented international sanctions since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict.

Technip Energies confirmed the “finalization” of its exit from the Arctic LNG 2 project on July 27, while specifying to Le Monde that it had “strictly” respected the law “throughout the project”.