Fortum to write off more than 2 billion euros in losses on its Russian operations

Finland's biggest energy company, Fortum, will write off more than two billion euros in losses on its Russian operations in the first three months of this year.

According to the company, the losses are a result of Russia's military actions in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, uncertainty and increased risks.

The majority state-owned utility said on Tuesday that it would book 2.1 billion euros in pre-tax impairments in its first-quarter results, indicating that the value of its assets in sanctions-hit Russia has plunged.

Nearly half of the write-off, one billion euros, stems from Fortum subsidiary Uniper's receivables from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Most of the rest, 600 million euros, is related to Unipro, a Russian company owned by Uniper, along with 300 million euros from Fortum's own Russia business and 200 million from Fortum's stake in Russian power utility TGC-1 and in renewables joint ventures in the country.