Germany’s BASF – the world’s largest chemical
company – wants the public to think it is doing the
right thing. The company stated in April that they would
soon begin winding down their non-food related
businesses in Russia and Belarus.
Despite the war in Ukraine, in 2022 a
BASF subsidiary, Wintershall, has piped €14 billion worth of Russian gas
across Germany, and made €400 million from its
Siberian gas and oil fields.
Just one day after BASF announced winding
down operations in Russia, Wintershall confirmed that
they would keep drilling for Russian fossil fuels with
Gazprom, Russia’s state-run oil and gas
company.
This is a lucrative partnership, one which has made
Wintershall €400 million between January and
March of this year alone.
Read more.
Russia’s war machine is fuelled by revenue from
Germany’s gas addiction. In March, with the war in
Ukraine well underway, 40 percent of Germany’s gas came from Russia.
This is yet another example of companies choosing to
prioritise profits over people.
As a company that has helped Russia’s gas industry
expand, helped Kremlin-owned Gazprom produce gas,
perpetuated Germany’s Russian gas addiction, and profits
from its Russian operations, BASF now has a particular
responsibility to help the Ukrainian people.
As such, BASF should:
- Immediately close down and exit Wintershall’s gas
and oil operations in Russia.
- Immediately donate all profits made from the
production and transport of Russian gas and oil since
the invasion to the Ukrainian victims of Russia’s
war.
- Work with the German government to end the
importation and transmission of all Russian gas into
the country as soon as possible.
We need actions to match the PR promises. And if they
don’t, we’ll be watching.
Onwards,
Global
Witness
