Maersk to Continue Russian Operations

Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk said its four subsidiaries with activities in Russia continue to operate as planned despite the recent sharp drop in oil price and the rouble's collapse.

 

"The Group's business with Russia amounts to some two to three percent of our total revenue. In the current situation, where Russian purchasing power and foreign trade is negatively impacted, our shipping business in Russia is also affected," A.P. Moller-Maersk wrote in an mail to Reuters.

 

World's largest container shipping company Maersk Line, port operator APM Terminals, logistic company Damco and the world's biggest tugboat operator Svitzer are all active in Russia.

 

Fears of a full-blown Russian crisis are leading investors to build up negative bets on European companies exposed to the country, such as brewer Carlsberg or Finnish tire-maker Nokian Renkaat.

 

A.P. Moller-Maersk acquired 37.5 percent of the Russian port operator Global Ports in September 2012 in a transaction that valued the port operator at approximately $2.3 billion.

 

Global Port's London-listed shares have dropped by 73 percent since the transaction.