BP urged to transfer funds received in Russia for the restoration of Ukraine

BP should donate its “wartime profits” in Russia to help rebuild Ukraine. Such a demand was put forward by members of the British Parliament, representing different parties, during the debate on December 7. If BP refuses, parliamentarians demand that ministers impose an excess profit tax on it, thereby forcing the company to comply with the requirement to transfer funds to Ukraine. This publication reports The Guardian.

At the end of February BP announced about the termination of cooperation due to events in Ukraine, announced its intention to sell its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, which at that time was worth $11.5 billion. However, the company still owns this stake. Global Witness estimates that Rosneft’s dividend offering to BP this year is around £580m, equivalent to a third of the UK’s aid to Ukraine this year. Since 2013, this share has brought BP £3.75 billion in dividends.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Labor Party spokeswoman Margaret Hodge said it was “incredibly embarrassing when a large public British company profits from the sale of oil that finances” Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. “BP must voluntarily donate all of its Russian dividends to the reconstruction of Ukraine, or the government must take action to force it to do so,” Ms. Hodge said.

Conservative MP Julian Lewis added: “We are working to ensure that the government can intervene and prevent private companies from somehow drilling a hole in the bottom of the bucket into which we pour water.” The parliamentarian expressed doubt that there is absolutely no way “to withdraw, or confiscate, or tax the money that was obtained in this unacceptable way.”

About what Igor Sechin accused BP of – in the material “Kommersant” “Rosneft has found those responsible for the energy crisis”.

Alena Miklashevskaya