The board of directors of the Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor (formerly Statoil) has decided to stop new investments in Russia and begin the process of pulling out of Equinor's Russian joint ventures, the company said in a release on Sunday.

"In the current situation, we regard our position as untenable. We will now stop new investments into our Russian business, and we will start the process of exiting our joint ventures in a manner that is consistent with our values," Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor, says.

Earlier this week, Equinor will also present pledges for humanitarian funding in the region.

The company recalls that it has been operating in Russia for more than 30 years and entered into a cooperation agreement with state-owned Rosneft in 2012.

"We have employees from both Ukraine and Russia, and we are proud of how our people from different backgrounds and nationalities collaborate – with mutual respect, as one team in Equinor," Opedal says.

The announcement states that Equinor is acting in accordance with the sanctions of Norway, the European Union and the United States, maintains close contacts with the authorities of Norway, the EU, the United States and other countries, and will continue to comply with any new sanctions related to the company's activities.

At the end of 2021, Equinor's non-current assets in Russia amounted to $1.2 billion. "We expect that the decision to start the process of exiting Joint Ventures in Russia will impact the book value of Equinor's Russian assets and lead to impairments," the press release says.