Mannheim/Germany, Kyiv/Ukraine – On the occasion of the 2026 Annual General Meeting of BASF, the Ukrainian climate campaign Razom We Stand and the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany call for compensation payments related to the expropriation of Wintershall Dea’s former Russian assets to be redirected to support Ukraine’s recovery and the victims of Russia’s ongoing brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.
BASF plans to distribute a dividend that is once again not covered by the company’s actual earnings or free cash flow. At the same time, BASF’s liquidity position was significantly supported by state-backed guarantee payments linked to Wintershall Dea’s former Russian business activities. According to reports, BASF received around €229 million in the third quarter of 2025 alone.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director of Razom We Stand, said: “For decades, BASF subsidiary Wintershall made cooperation with Russia and Gazprom a central pillar of its oil and gas business — including after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and Donbas. Even after the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and with more than 190,000 war crimes now registered, the company continued to report significant profits from its Russian operations before exiting under pressure.
It is therefore deeply troubling that BASF has now received around €229 million in taxpayer-backed compensation linked to these assets. From a Ukrainian perspective, profits generated by businesses collaborating with Russia after February 2022 are, quite simply, dripping with Ukrainian blood. We call on BASF to take responsibility and redirect this €229 million to support Ukraine’s recovery and the victims of this war.”
Tilman Massa, Co-Director Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany, said: “These payments effectively socialise costs of BASF’s past dependence on Russian fossil gas and its business ties that helped finance the Kremlin for years. It is ethically unacceptable for us that public money connected to the consequences of Russia’s war economy is used to stabilize shareholder distributions.”
Razom We Stand and the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany demand that BASF dedicate the funds to humanitarian relief, reconstruction in Ukraine, renewable energy cooperation, and support for victims of war. The organisations urge BASF shareholders to support greater corporate responsibility, transparency, and a clear commitment to peace-oriented use of public compensation funds.
Countermotions of the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/basf-se/the-proposed-dividend-cuts-into-substance-financially-socially-and-ethically-our-countermotions/
Contacts:
Jason Kirkpatrick, Head of Communications, razomwestand.com
Jason[at] razomwestand.org
Mobile +4915774246878
Tilman Massa, Co-Director Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany, dachverband[at]kritischeaktionaere.de, Phone: 0049 221 599 56 47, Mobile phone: +491737135237
