Energy companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and BP should donate one-tenth of their windfall profits directly to Ukraine as they earned them due to Russia’s war, according to a proposal from Lithuania’s largest utility.
Darius Maikštėnas, chief executive of Ignitis Group, launched a public appeal to more than 50 energy groups in the US and Europe to follow suit after the listed Lithuanian company said it would ask its annual meeting for approval to pay about 10 per cent of its extra profits from 2022, or €12mn, to help rebuild Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“We urge you to follow suit and earmark part of your 2022 profits for Ukraine. We believe sharing profits with the country that is suffering the consequences of the war that has led to those profits is morally the right thing to do,” Maikštėnas said.
The appeal was sent to companies including Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Equinor and TotalEnergies, saying that oil and gas groups as well as utilities had earned…