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Councils and housing associations to cancel Russian deals after Ukraine invasion
Councils and housing associations have announced that they are looking to terminate any deals they have with Russian-controlled companies in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Inside Housing has had confirmation from two councils based in the South East that they are looking to end deals, while Home Group has also cancelled its deal with a Russian-based energy supplier.
Tweeting this morning, Home Group chief executive Mark Henderson confirmed that the 55,000-home landlord had cancelled its energy contract with Gazprom.
Mr Henderson said that while the Gazprom deal may have been value for money, democracy had a higher value. The association will also be using its Home Group fund to furnish homes for incoming Ukrainian refugees.
Wealden District Council said it was working with its procurement team to cancel a contract it has with Gazprom to supply gas to its sheltered homes, while Kent County Council also said new transactions with Russian companies would now be stopped.
Bob Standley, the leader of Wealden, said the East Sussex-based council “utterly condemned” the Russian invasion of Ukraine and wanted to give support to the Ukrainian people.
He added that the council was investigating whether it had contracts with other Russian-controlled companies, with the aim of taking similar action to the Gazprom cancellation.
Roger Gough, the leader of Kent County Council, said: “In the very few cases where activity involving Russian interest, for example in the energy market, has been identified, all new transactions have been stopped.”
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The move comes as a number of businesses around the world and in the UK have taken steps to withdraw from Russia or end deals with the country as part of sanctions brought by the West. Other councils, such as Suffolk County Council, have already cancelled deals with the Russian energy giant.
Wealden signed up to three contracts with Gazprom to supply gas to its retirement complexes across the local authority, which were supposed to run until 2024.
However, Mr Standley said it was seeking advice from the Local Government Association and the government on how best to cancel this deal and seek alternative suppliers.
“We are also examining whether there are any other contracts with Russian-controlled companies and will take similar action to terminate those arrangements,” he said.
Mr Gough said that Laser, Kent’s wholly owned energy-buying organisation, had suspended Gazprom from its fixed-price gas framework and will not include it in future contracting opportunities. He added that it would be advising customers who contracted directly with Gazprom through legacy Laser arrangements to end these deals.
He also highlighted Kent’s pension fund, which he said had very limited (0.3%) exposure to Russian assets, which he was in active dialogue to reduce further.
“[Russian president Vladimir Putin’s] brutal assault on a European state that has been building such democratic institutions over a generation threatens our common values, and we stand in solidarity with all those in Ukraine who are defending their country and their freedoms,” Mr Gough said.
Fighting in Ukraine has now entered its eighth day, with hundreds of civilians killed as a result of the Russian advance. Russia’s actions have been met with widespread condemnation from the West. Countries have imposed huge sanctions on the country and frozen the assets of individuals with links to the Putin regime.
Last week, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, called on the government to implement new laws which would allow the seizure of houses and other properties from Putin allies.
Yesterday, Suffolk County Council revealed that it had ended all its deals with Gazprom.
Commenting on the decision, council leader Matthew Hicks said that because of the Russian president’s “utterly reprehensible” actions, he had asked his officers to review the contract with Gazprom and had now decided to invoke options to break away from it.
He said: “The government is imposing economic sanctions on Russia and this is a part we can play in helping to bring to an end this act of aggression on a free and peaceful nation and its innocent people.”
