GMB Union has revealed Kremlin-controlled energy firm Gazprom holds contracts worth tens of millions of pounds UK with public sector bodies.
The union has now called for an immediate ban on new contracts to Gazprom’s UK trading arm.
Public sector bodies spent at least £25 million on Gazprom’s services in 2021, according to public spending records, and the true figure is probably higher.
According to published spending logs, expenditure included:
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spent £7.1 million – the most of any public sector body
- Manchester City Council spent £1.6 million
- Westminster City Council spent £1.5 million
Major recent contracts won by Gazprom included a £3.6 million deal to supply gas and electricity to the University of Manchester
Delta Academies Trust – one of the largest academy groups in the country – also signed a £1.8 million deal in 2020 for ‘provision of mains gas supplies to Academies in Yorkshire and the Humber.’
Gazprom Marketing and Trading Limited has operated in the UK since 1999. The company paid a total of £1.2 billion in dividends back to its parent over the last five years, company documents reveal.
Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said:
“Serious questions need to be asked about how our schools and hospitals have become entangled in the energy supply chain that fuels Putin’s war machine.
“Ultimately, this spending is an indictment of the failure of UK energy policy to prioritise affordable and secure supply.
“It is morally unconscionable for contracts to still be awarded while missiles rain down on Ukrainian workers.
“There should be no new public sector contract awards to Gazprom, and we need an urgent Government review into whether alternative suppliers can take on existing contracts.”
