French energy companies have betrayed Macron’s promise to stand with Ukraine

In his New Year's address at the end of 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would help Ukraine "without fail" and "until victory itself." The encouraging words were part of a concerted effort by Macron to position France as one of Ukraine’s foremost allies.

But the president’s words ring increasingly hollow. 

If France’s meagre aid contribution to Ukraine took the sheen off his accomplished rhetoric, then recent actions by the country’s private sector have quashed any aspirations on the part of the Élysée to be seen as leading the support for Ukraine.

Explosive reports published last week by French domestic outlets add to the mounting body of evidence linking French companies to Russia’s fossil fuels industry. 

Investigative journalists have revealed how Technip Energies, a relatively unknown French engineering company, helped the Russian energy giant Novatek continue construction of Arctic LNG 2 — the company’s massive new liquid natural gas plant in the Arctic — despite the large-scale invasion of Ukraine and the EU sanctions regime.

Oil and gas accounted for 45% of the Russian federal budget in 2021, so it's clear that the industry plays a central role in financing Vladimir Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people.

The Technip story would be shocking in isolation, but when seen in the context of France’s ongoing broader involvement with Russia’s LNG industry, it becomes truly shameful.

France is the second-largest importer of Russian LNG in Europe.

TotalEnergies, France’s largest oil and gas producer and the 21st largest company in the world, has so far refused to leave Russia. 

This is because it is making vast sums of money from trading Russian LNG. According to an analysis from Global Witness, Total is the