OREANDA-NEWS. Engie, Gazprom, OMV, Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall (the applicants) submitted their joint response to the Statement of Objections of the Polish competition authority in the merger control proceedings regarding the planned creation of a joint venture among the applicants.

Following that, the applicants have decided to jointly withdraw their merger control notification from the Polish competition authority. 

All the applicants believe that the project is crucial for the European energy system and each of them will therefore individually contemplate alternative ways to contribute to it. 

The applicants’ decision to withdraw the notification will not affect the continuation by Nord Stream 2 AG of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines as planned, including its scheduling.

Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the extraction of natural resources for 120 years, and in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 85 years. Wintershall focuses on selected core regions where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise. These are Europe, Russia, North Africa, South America, and increasingly the Middle East region. The company wants to expand its business further with exploration and production, selected partnerships, innovation and technological competence. Wintershall employs about 2.000 staff worldwide from 50 nations and is now Germany’s largest, internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer.