The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included the leading global oilfield company SLB (formerly Schlumberger) headquartered in the USA on the list of international war sponsors. According to the information provided to NACP by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, the company not only did not condemn the military actions of the aggressor but also expanded its business on its territory.
The American company SLB plays a critical role for the aggressor state, occupying 8% of the Russian oil service market. The company clearly states that its contribution to the Russian economy has already amounted to more than $4.5 billion in taxes, with SLB's staff in Russia including 11,500 employees working for several factories and service centers. In addition, SLB has a wide network of subsidiaries in Russia, which allows the company to circumvent international sanctions.
SLB works closely with Russian oil and gas giants, including Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil. All listed companies are under US sanctions. After the outbreak of the full-scale war, SLB did not cut ties with Russian clients. On the contrary, the company has expanded its business by taking over service and equipment contracts from competitors that have left the market.
In the third quarter of 2022, the revenue of SLB's Russia and Central Asia reservoir division grew by 25%, outperforming other regions. Starting from May to October 2022, SLB supplied more than 900 batches of its products to Russian enterprises. Currently, the company continues to participate in tenders announced by Russian companies.
Previously, SLB has already violated U.S. government sanctions by supplying among others equipment to Iran and Sudan in the 2000s, as well as servicing Arctic projects of Gazprom subsidiaries after 2014. In the latter case, the company faced a fine of $1.4 million.
In October 2022, SLB faced a wave of criticism after more than 9,000 of the company's employees in Russia received conscription notices at the workplace. In addition, the company prohibits employees from joining work remotely, so that they cannot avoid mobilization.
"SLB, like hundreds of other foreign businesses, still openly supports the Russian military machine. In parallel, the company declares that it does not violate any sanctions. If international companies still have this opportunity, more than a year after the start of the full-scale invasion, then it is our job to eliminate such loopholes in the sanctions regime. We call on our American partners to take control of the situation with SLB and take all necessary measures to stop the company's activities on the territory of the aggressor state," said Agia Zagrebelska, the head of the direction of minimizing corruption risks in the sanctions policy of the NACP.It is worth reminding that inclusion in the list of international sponsors of war is a powerful reputational tool. All listed companies are included in the World-Check database, a database of high-risk individuals and organizations used worldwide to identify and manage financial, regulatory, and reputational risks. In this way, interaction with the World-Check database helps to protect the international financial sector from sponsors of the Russian war, cooperation with which is dangerous for socially responsible businesses. The role of NACP in sanctions policy is defined in the Individual Sanctions Roadmap developed by the Stanford International Working Group on Russian Sanctions.
