Update on Gazprom and contracts with Russian-owned suppliers

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, housing associations have been reconsidering their contracts with Russian-owned businesses, particularly Gazprom Energy.

It is our understanding that the German government has taken control of Gazprom Energy’s parent company in Germany until 30 September 2022 at the earliest. This would mean that:

• There is no immediate risk of Gazprom going into administration.
• All contracts are secure at least until 30 September 2022.
• There are no links with Russia for NHF members who have contracts with Gazprom.

We have sought further clarity from the government on this and will keep you up to date as we learn more.

Public Procurement Note for organisations holding contracts with Russian or Belarusian suppliers

The Cabinet Office has published a Procurement Policy Note for public sector organisations and contracting authorities holding contracts with Russian or Belarusian suppliers. The Procurement Policy Note states that in-scope organisations should:

• Review their contract portfolio and identify any contracts where the prime contractor is a Russian or Belarusian supplier.
• Where a Russian or Belarusian prime contractor is identified, they should consider terminating that contract in accordance with the terms of the contract, i.e. following a legally compliant process.
• Only proceed to terminate a contract if an alternative supplier can be sourced in line with value for money, affordability and with minimal disruption to public services.
• Any decisions to terminate a contract should be made on a case by case basis and within existing legal restrictions, financial allocations and budgets.

More information on this can be found in their press release. 

If you would like to discuss this with us then please get in touch.