Letter to Siemens Energy regarding its ongoing business activities in Russia
...We write to you as B4Ukraine, a coalition of Ukrainian and international civil society organizations working to curtail the financial resources enabling the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We expect companies to demonstrate public support for the people, democracy, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, opposition to Russia’s war of aggression, alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and the international rules-based order...
Under the new legislation, any product, service, or asset could be directly called upon to support Russia’s invasion. This risks enabling and financing Russia’s violations of IHL and human rights law during the ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine and violating Siemens Enery’s human rights commitments. It remains to be seen how directly Siemens Energy will be impacted by the partial mobilisation and the heightened legal, regulatory, operational, and financial risks associated with companies being required to provide direct support to the internationally sanctioned Russian military. However, proximity to these risks is particularly acute for Siemens Energy as its industrial products and services could have a direct application toward the war effort.
We seek to understand how Siemens Energy has conducted and continues to conduct heightened HRDD, per its stated policy and the UNGPs concerning due diligence in conflict-affected areas, and how the findings of such a process has resulted in these continued business activities and relationships...