Further sanctions against Moscow could raise energy bills for UK businesses
Widening sanctions against Moscow could result in higher energy bills for a swathe of UK businesses if a key Russian-owned supplier is blacklisted, the UK’s energy trade body has confirmed.
Gazprom Energy, a subsidiary of Russia’s state owned gas and oil giant, has been one of the largest suppliers of gas for UK businesses since 2010, according to energy consultancy Cornwall Insight, which said the firm accounts for about 20.8% of the market.
While Downing Street has so far only imposed asset freezes on five Russian banks and three high net worth individuals as part of its retaliation over Moscow’s threat to Ukraine, the UK has given itself powers to extend those sanctions to target other key industries including the energy sector.
A larger package of UK sanctions against Moscow, which is being coordinated with the US and EU, will be implemented if a full-scale invasion of Ukraine takes place.
That could impact companies like Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom and subsidiaries like Gazprom Energy, which provides gas and electricity to factories, businesses and public sector customers across the UK. According to its latest annual report, it supplied gas to 178,000 sites across the country in 2020.
A subsidiary of Gazprom’s marketing and trading arm, the gas it supplies to UK customers comes from “variety of sources and countries” including Norway and Qatar. The firm declined to confirm the proportion secured from Russia.
The UK’s energy trade body has warned that any further disruption to the supply during an existing crunch could spell trouble for customers.
“With both domestic and business customers already facing steep bill increases as a result of record gas prices on the wholesale market, further disruption to the
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