The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility​ (ACCR) is calling on Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) to suspend its relationship with Falcon Oil & Gas until such time as Viktor Vekselberg’s interest in the company is quarantined.

Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg were sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury on 6 April 2018 and 11 March, respectively.

Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg were sanctioned by the British government on 10 March and 15 March, respectively.

  • Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) (77.5%) is in a joint venture with Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (22.5%) in the Beetaloo Basin.

    • Russian oligarch Viktor Vekelsberg owns approximately 16% of Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd through subsidiary company Lamesa Group Holding SA.
    • Vekelsberg representative Maxim Mayorets resigned from the board of Falcon Oil & Gas on 1 March 2022.

  • Queensland Alumina Ltd is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) (80%) and Rusal International PJSC (20%).

    • Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska owns approximately 44.5% of En+ Group International PJSC which in turn owns 56.9% of Rusal International PJSC.
    • Russian oligarch Viktor Vekelsberg owns approximately 32.3% of Rusal International PJSC through subsidiary companies SUAL Partners Ltd (21.6%) and Zonoville Investments Ltd (10.7%).

Dan Gocher, Director of Climate & Environment at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) said:

“Origin Energy should suspend its joint venture with Falcon Oil & Gas, until Viktor Vekselberg’s interest in Falcon Oil & Gas is quarantined, rather than waiting until Australian sanctions are imposed on him.

“Vekselberg has already been sanctioned by the British and US governments. It’s curious that the Australian government has not yet followed suit given its claims of being in lock step with the US and UK.

“Vekselberg’s interest in Falcon pre-dates Origin’s farm-in agreement agreed in 2015, so Origin entered into the joint venture with eyes wide open.

“If Origin’s exploration in the Beetaloo Basin is successful, it would be to the benefit of Vekselberg - a situation which must be avoided.

“We welcome Rio Tinto’s decision to terminate its commercial relationships with Russian companies, and urge the company to disclose further detail to shareholders on what this will mean for the Queensland Alumina joint venture.

Background

Top five shareholders in Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd as at 13 March 2022:

HolderCommon Stock Equivalent Held (actual)Percent of Common Shares Outstanding (%)Market Value (AU$M)
Lamesa Group Holding SA157,083,63416.0024.5
Nicolas Mathys40,000,0004.076.2
Lupus Alpha Asset Management GmbH4,882,5000.500.8
Philip O’Quigley
CEO & Executive Director		3,513,6960.360.5
Generali Portfolio Management Ltd1,228,2120.130.2

Top five shareholders in Rusal International PJSC as at 13 March 2022:

HolderCommon Stock Equivalent Held (actual)Percent of Common Shares Outstanding (%)Market Value (AU$M)
En+ Group International public joint-stock company8,641,786,85456.886,344.4
SUAL Partners Ltd.3,283,210,51221.612,410.4
Zonoville Investments Ltd1,625,652,59110.701,193.5
Vanguard Group Inc.100,218,9690.6673.6
BlackRock Inc.69,546,1710.4651.1

Top five shareholders in En+ Group International PJSC as at 13 March 2022:

HolderCommon Stock Equivalent Held (actual)Percent of Common Shares Outstanding (%)Market Value (AU$M)
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska223,597,11444.512,845.1
Aktsionernoye Obshchestvo Tsentr Obrabotki Dannykh Irkutskenergo136,522,00927.181,737.10
Glencore PLC67,398,55913.42857.6
Polina Valentinovna Yumasheva33,156,2586.60421.9
Ninety One UK Ltd.627,0110.128.0

NB: All data sourced from S&P Capital IQ

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