Gazprom Energy

Lord Sikka Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I was glad to debate the noble Baroness’s Bill last week. We are not ruling out onshore wind—it can make an important contribution. There are local planning considerations that are important to bear in mind. Many people object to fracking because of the imposition on local communities, and in many respects the same objections and arguments should apply to onshore wind as well. We need to take the public with us on this and ensure that there is public support for these turbines.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, between 24 February and 3 March, 28 new companies and one new limited liability partnership were registered at Companies House for which the person with significant control claims to be a Russian national. What steps have the Government taken to ensure that these companies are not used for sanctions-busting, and will they take steps to put them into compulsory winding up?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not sure what point the noble Lord is trying to make here. We are not pursuing a war on the Russian people; many Russian individuals are just as opposed to this war as we are. We have a constantly evolving round of sanctions—the Foreign Secretary announced another 65 sanctioning proposals this morning—and some 1,000 individuals and businesses have been sanctioned. However, we have to be careful to differentiate between Russian state entities, those linked to Putin, and perfectly legitimate Russian individuals.