COUNCIL authorities in Dorset are reviewing a range of contracts regarding gas and pension suppliers linked to Russia – with around £5m in pension assets to be discussed.
BCP Council and Dorset Council say they will review several contracts in a bid to uncover links to Russian companies and suppliers in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole authority says it does not “necessarily know” about Russian links to the full supply of gas to the area, while Dorset Council officials will soon discuss Russian assets worth millions in its pension fund.
A BCP Council spokesperson said: “[We are] deeply saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and hope there is an end to so much unnecessary suffering soon.
“In response to the crisis, BCP Council has been reviewing our contracts and pension suppliers.
“BCP Council does not have any direct contractual links with Gazprom, or any other Russian supply, although we do not necessarily know about the full supply chains of those we contract with.
“We are currently in the process of asking our contractors if there are any indirect links with Russian companies and markets.”
BCP Council is part of the Dorset County Pension Fund, which is administrated by Dorset Council. The Brunel Pension Partnership is Dorset Council’s investment pooling manager.
A Dorset Council spokesperson said: “We do have some indirect exposure to Russian companies through the pension fund’s investments in an emerging markets equity fund managed by Brunel Pension Partnership.
“The value of this exposure is estimated to be approximately £5m or 0.13 per cent of the pension fund’s total assets of £3.8bn.
“This matter will be considered by the Pension Fund Committee when it meets next Thursday, March 10.”
Brunel Pension Partnership’s chief investment officer David Vickers said they have prohibited any new investments in Russian assets “with immediate effect”.
Poole Housing Partnership’s contract with Russian energy corporation Gazprom ended on September 30 last year. Its gas contracts were then transferred to LASER.
BCP Council currently buys gas and electricity from LASER, which is owned by Kent County Council.
- Read more: BCP Council responds to Ukraine invasion
In a statement to customers, LASER’s director of energy Nigel Hartnup said they had taken action to investigate any Russian links to its gas supplies.
He said: “We want to reassure you that your LASER gas contracts have no direct link with Russia. However, Russia does supply a large amount of gas into Europe and therefore we are in the process of asking our major gas suppliers (including SSE) if there are any indirect links within their supply chain. We will share their responses once we have received them.
“Please note with immediate effect, LASER has suspended Gazprom from our fixed price existing gas framework and we will not be including them in future contracting opportunities.”
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