Ukrainians in Brussels called on international energy companies to reveal the truth about business ties with Russia
The art installation depicted that the opacity of international energy-producing and trading and trading corporations that continue to work in or with Russia leads to the continuation of the war killing Ukrainians
16-17th June, 2022. BRUSSELS: Ukrainians organized an activist art installation to urge energy companies to reveal the truth about their business with Russia and in Russia and discontinue it. The initiative, dedicated to the 53rd Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board meeting, managed to secure the support of various non-governmental organizations from across the globe and attracted the attention of representatives of major energy companies, such as Shell, Equinor ASA, BHP, and Rio Tinto. The activist installation was also attended by Mark Robinson, the Executive Director of the EITI, as well as representatives of civil society organizations that are on the EITI Board.
The art installation was launched on Thursday, June 16, and depicted that the opacity of international energy-producing and trading and trading corporations that continue to work in or with Russia leads to the continuation of the war killing Ukrainians. As the EITI Board met in Brussels on June 16-17th, activists called on extractive sector companies and governments to more effectively disclose information regarding their ongoing operations in Russia or with Russian fossil fuels and discontinue all engagements with the Russian oil and gas industry.
“Despite their commitments to stop business with Russia, many energy corporations still continue to supply huge volumes of Russian oil under long-term contracts, helping the aggressor state turn the energy of the Earth into the blood of Ukrainians. Therefore, we call on governments to unite in imposing real sanctions against Russia, including the prevention of bypassing those already introduced, and to companies to at least be transparent and stop deceiving their own consumers about the extent of their business in or with Russia”, – commented Oleksiy Orlovsky, Program Director of the International Renaissance Foundation and the voice of Ukraine’s civil society in EITI.
On the next day after Oleksiy Orlovsky officially opened the activist installation, he presented the civil society's demands to the energy-producing and trading companies and other EITI Board members at the deep dive session "Supporting Ukraine – EITI’s role in sustaining implementation during conflict and in reconstruction" during the EITI Board meeting. It was a closed session for Board members and alternates only, with no observers allowed. The results of the session are yet to be revealed by the EITi Secretariat, and we highly encourage media representatives to enquire more information from the EITI press office.
According to the statement published on June 13, the civil society organizations from across the globe call on EITI to:
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immediately discontinue both new and existing business in Russia and with Russian fossil fuels, including exploration, production, and trading activities.
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immediately disclose and regularly update information regarding business with Russia so as to ensure accountability in line with the EITI principles, including the status of any equity holdings and operations in Russia; divestment decisions and processes (including human rights due diligence); payments to the Russian state and Russian state-owned companies, disaggregated by the project; and, for commodity trading, the term contracts, other ongoing offtake obligations, and sale-level volume and payment data in line with the EITI guidelines on first-trade transparency.
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end to the financing of aggression and to unite in imposing real and effective sanctions against Russia, including the prevention of bypassing those sanctions already introduced.
The campaign is organized by We are Ukraine/One Philosophy, DiXi Group, Promote Ukraine (Brussels) and has collected signatories among major non-governmental organizations across the globe.
The representatives of the organizations-signatories:
- Oleksiy Orlovsky, Program Director of the International Renaissance Foundation
- Olena Pavlenko, President of the Ukrainian think-tank DiXi Group
are still available for interviews and will gladly comment on the statement to the EITI and actions needed from extractive companies and governments.
Photos from the event are available via the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RJcuNeNOQdNYGFWMrmVX89woLERdURVE/
For media inquiries, please, contact:
Oksana Ryabchun
DiXi Group
Yana Brovdiy
Promote Ukraine
Yaryna Martyniuk
We Are Ukraine
About DiXi Group
DiXi Group is a Ukrainian think tank involved in research and consultations in the energy sphere – at the crossroads of politics, public relations, safety, and investments.
It combines both professional analysis of performance and reforms in the specific sector and wider tasks – strengthening transparency and accessibility of energy policy, improved governance, and cooperation of the government with the public and business.
DiXi Group works both with specific amendments to the legislation that need to be introduced in order to improve the sector’s performance, and with more general topics such as Ukraine-EU-Russia relations, and regional energy policy.
About Promote Ukraine
Promote Ukraine is an independent media and civil society platform that gives voice to experts from Ukraine and the EU on the issues relevant to both parties. It is a politically and governmentally independent organization with a seat in Brussels.
Promote Ukraine seeks to facilitate relations between the European Union, its member states, and Ukraine by walking the paths of culture, know-how, organization, cooperation, information, and entrepreneurship. The long-term perspective of Promote Ukraine is to establish a network “Successful Ukrainians – Prosperous Ukraine” – a network of people who are ready to use their skills and time in benefit of Ukraine.
For more information, visit Promote Ukraine official website as well as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube pages.
About We Are Ukraine
WeAreUkraine.info is an English-language repository of truth about Ukraine and a global engagement platform created to bring about lasting peace after the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The platform includes news of the Russia Ukraine war and examples of support from the world community, it tracks the war’s impact on the lives of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian stories of resilience and produces explainers on Ukraine’s culture, history, economics, etc. It is also a portal for calls to action designed to mobilize people around the world to counter russia’s unprovoked aggression and bring it to responsibility for the crimes committed by its citizens against Ukrainians.
The project was launched on March 3, 2022, in response to the need to increase shareable and aesthetically designed English-language information disseminating the truth about events in Ukraine by the team of One Philosophy consulting group and IT company Empat supported by volunteers.
Follow news on the We Are Ukraine website as well as Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
