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 in Brussels on June 16-17, 2022, 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 on the EITI Board.
The installation at the entrance to the Egmont Palace in Brussels, where the EITI Board meeting took place, shows that the opacity of international energy-producing and trading corporations that continue to work in or with Russia leads to the continuation of the war that keeps killing Ukrainians.
“Despite their commitments to stop business with Russia, many energy corporations still continue supplying 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 Oleksii Orlovskyi, Program Director of the International Renaissance Foundation and the voice of Ukraine’s civil society in EITI.
The activist installation was to set the EITI Board members in the right mood to take real actions to help stop Russia’s war in Ukraine as they gathered at the deep dive session “Supporting Ukraine – EITI’s role in sustaining implementation during conflict and in reconstruction” on June 17, 2022. The results of the session are yet to be revealed by the EITi Secretariat, and we encourage everyone to keep asking the EITI about them.
