The oil industry remains strategically important for Russia, as it allows the country to use energy as a weapon and influence other states. Although sanctions have been imposed on Russia in this area, the Irish-American company Weatherford International continues to operate in Russia, paying millions of dollars in taxes there and providing technological capabilities to the aggressor country in the oil industry. This was the reason for adding the company to the list of international sponsors of war.
Weatherford International specializes in the manufacture and supply of oilfield equipment and services to oil and gas companies. The company has been operating in Russia for 16 years, has created more than 2.5 thousand jobs there and maintains service facilities, bases and engineering enterprises in Russia.
Weatherford is represented in Russia through Weatherford Holdings (Rus) LLC, Weatherford LLC and Weatherford Business Service LLC. In 2022, they paid more than USD 15 million in taxes to the aggressor's budget.
Among Weatherford's partners in Russia is the notorious Rosneft oil company, which remains the main customer for its services.
The company also continues to be an active participant in import and export operations with Russia. In the period from February 24, 2022 to December 31, 2023, it imported goods to Russia for almost USD 1.5 million. Among them: materials and spare parts for the oil and gas industry (fittings, valves, shafts, gaskets, plastic products, bearings).
Weatherford has a clear intention to continue to fulfill existing contracts and sign new contracts with customers in Russia.
In its reporting, Weatherford promised to fulfill its contractual obligations, taking into account international sanctions. The company successfully rebuilt its equipment supply channels after the civilized world imposed sanctions on Russia, replacing suppliers with Russian or other foreign companies. This demonstrates not only the company's economic and technological support for the aggressor, but also its ideological support.The NACP is the body responsible for promoting the development of a compliance system in the private sector. During compliance procedures, counterparties are subject to integrity checks, including compliance with socially responsible business practices in accordance with OECD standards. The list of "International Sponsors of War" on the War and Sanctions portal is a powerful reputational tool for achieving integrity of supply chains in the international dimension, withdrawal of international business from Russia, and thus reducing the financial and technological capacity of the terrorist country to kill Ukrainians. One of the platform's "levers of pressure" is cooperation with the World-Check database, which is used by banks and insurance companies to assess risks. That is why for global companies the consequences of being on the list are worse than continuing to do business with the aggressor country.
