The European Union (EU) has made no secret of this. When they took the unprecedented decision on 2 March to disconnect seven Russian banks from the Swift international financial system, the 27 Member States took care to spare the giant Sberbank and Gazprombank, at the heart of the hydrocarbon trade, due to the heavy dependence of several European states on Russian gas. Most of the payments for Russian gas and oil deliveries to the EU pass through these two establishments.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki immediately reacted, judging this situation on Twitter “unacceptable”. ” Polandhe said, demands that the sanctions fully encompass all Russian entities through which the war is financed. » Revenues from oil, refined products and gas bring considerable windfall to Russia: more than a third of its general budget in 2021.
Through gradual sanctions, however, EU leaders could agree this week to reduce the Union’s dependence on imports of Russian hydrocarbons. Already, “Even if Russian oil imports are not banned, bankers are worried about ever-changing sanctions, which may target certain oil-carrying vessels, for example,” explains Joydeep Sengupta, an attorney in the compliance and regulatory team at Mayer Brown.
“Moral imperative” for funds
The activity of banking groups with Russian energy companies is not limited to ensuring their financial flows. On March 3, an international coalition of NGOs called on banks, insurers and asset managers to stop all new support in the country for gas, oil and coal projects. “Financial institutions have a moral imperative to act to stop the war machine of [Vladimir] Putin and, therefore, to cease all support for the industries that contribute to fueling it,” says Lucie Pinson, director of Reclaim Finance, about the Russian president.
The BlackRock investment fund claims to have ceased, since February 28, to buy Russian securities. Reclaim Finance calls on the American company to “immediately expand its positions to non-Russian companies active in Russia, starting with TotalEnergies”. The French oil and gas major – in which BlackRock is a nearly 6% shareholder – has so far maintained its activities in Russia, unlike BP, Shell or Exxon.
Several French institutions are also among the main financiers and investors in the Russian hydrocarbon sector. Crédit Agricole thus granted loans and other financing to Gazprom to the tune of 800 million dollars (737 million euros) between 2019 and 2022, according to data from the Bloomberg agency. In addition, the French banking group has invested, to date, 21 million dollars in the Rosneft oil company. Contacted, he claims that“there has been no new financing granted to Russian counterparties since the beginning of the conflict” – without specifying how long it will last.
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