Treasury minister grilled on BP’s Russian blood money at urgent questions in commons
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James CARTLIDGE was today grilled by MPs at an Urgent Question granted to Dame Margaret HODGE MP in Parliament.
WATCH THE URGENT QUESTION HERE
The Treasury refused to condemn BP’s continued ownership of Rosneft, or to commit to taking action on BP’s wartime dividend from Putin’s oil company.
A succession of Conservative and Labour MPs called on the government to heed the calls from chief economic advisor to President Zelenskyy, Oleg USTENKO, who has demanded that BP’s wartime Russian windfall be committed to the reconstruction of Ukraine. MPs called on the Treasury to review its policy and return to the House of Commons within a week with a statement.
This follows analysis from Global Witness published on December 2nd, which revealed that BP is owed £580m by Rosneft in wartime profits.
A spokesperson for Global Witness said: ‘’The UK government talks tough on Russia, yet seems paralysed, unable to condemn BP’s shameless profiteering at the expense of the Ukrainian people. The time for talk is over, the government must act now to ensure that BP’s £580m in wartime Russian oil profits are committed to the reconstruction of Ukraine’’.
Dame Margaret HODGE MP said: “It is utterly shameful that a large, publicly listed British company profits from the sale of oil that is funding Putin’s war. This is prolonging unthinkable human suffering and directly contradicts the UK’s efforts to isolate the Kremlin and disrupt their oil markets to end the invasion.”
“BP’s claim that it is locked in as a shareholder is both laughable and easily solved. They should heed calls by Zelensky’s chief economic adviser and give up their wartime profits to the reconstruction of Ukraine and victims of the war. BP must either voluntarily donate the entirety of its Russian dividends to the reconstruction of Ukraine, or the Government must take action to force them to do so.”
