Experts advocate for the impemention of a mechanism to control the profits of oil and gas companies
The wars that Russia has unleashed against a number of European countries, including Ukraine, and the ongoing military conflicts involving the private Russian army in Africa have common roots – the non-transparent use of funds that Russia receives from the sale of oil and gas. This was discussed during a roundtable organized by DiXi Group and the International Renaissance Foundation as part of the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) Global Conference on June 13-14 in Senegal.
Speaking at the conference, Democracy and Good Governance Program Director at International Renaissance Foundation Oleksiy Orlovsky presented a map of the activities of private Russian military groups in different African countries. He emphasized the absence of an international mechanism that would allow to control the allocation of funds from the sale of natural resources for the development of the country, and not for terrorist activities or human rights violations. According to him, the need for such a mechanism is long overdue.
Helen Clark, EITI Board Chair, noted that although researching the quality of the use of revenues from the sale of natural resources is a difficult task, EITI as an initiative can begin to study this issue more actively. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Minister of State, Chair EITI National Committee, Senegal, also spoke about the complexity but realism of introducing such an element in the EITI Standard. Both speakers and participants agreed to further discussions of the topic.
The event was organized within the framework of the International Renaissance Foundation’s project “Advocating for Ukraine’s Green Recovery through Strengthening Support for Ukraine and Weakening Russian Influence in the EU”.
