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SNC-LAVALIN, KINROSS GOLD AMONG CANADIAN PLAYERS STILL DEALING IN RUSSIAN
RESOURCES

Despite sweeping sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine, some Canadian resource
extraction and manufacturing ventures haven’t been directly punished for
continued business with Russian partners
By Carl Meyer and Emma McIntosh
March 3, 2022 (Updated Jan 5, 2023) 21 min. read
Share
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly travelled to the Poland-Ukraine border
this week. While she has said that "we will continue to meet every act of
aggression by Russia’s leadership with measures designed to weaken its ability
to wage war," multiple Canadian companies seem to have evaded punishment for
ongoing resource extraction and manufacturing ventures with Russian partners.
Photo: Mélanie Joly / Facebook

As Russia’s military lays siege to Ukrainian cities, SNC-Lavalin Group is among
a number of high profile multinational companies trying to distance themselves
from investments and operations within Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime.

Despite sweeping sanctions designed to choke off and punish Russia for its
violent assault on democracy, many Canadian-based companies have continued to do
business with Russian partners in resource and related sectors, including
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of mining, manufacturing, oil and gas
projects.

It is not clear whether any sanctions may affect them.

SNC-Lavalin has been attempting to divest from a joint venture with Rosneft, the
Russian state-controlled oil and gas company at the heart of federal government
sanctions. 

The joint venture is one example of stakes that several Canadian companies told
The Narwhal they still hold in Russia, even as a flurry of Western companies
pull out of the country in response to the Feb. 21 invasion of Ukraine, and as
Canada continues to ratchet up sanctions against Russia-linked individuals and
slap tariffs on Russian imports.

Investments and partnerships in Russia are nothing new for multinationals. Oil
giant Exxon teamed up with Rosneft in 2012 in a deal that saw the Russian
company invest in Exxon’s asset in the Cardium formation that produced thousands
of barrels of oil per day in Alberta. But in 2020, Exxon sold it off to a
“private party,” the company’s Canadian affiliate Imperial Oil confirmed to The
Narwhal on March 1. It has not publicized details about how that sale went or
whether it made a profit.

Canada hit key personnel at Rosneft with fresh sanctions on March 2, as well as
individuals at another Russian state-owned energy firm, Gazprom, the company
behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that Germany has now halted. On March 3,
Canada also slapped tariffs on Russian imports. Deputy Prime Minister and
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said March 3 that the total number of people
or entities sanctioned “or in the process of being sanctioned” by Canada since
Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 is now “more than 1,000.”

“Canada’s support for Ukraine and its people is unwavering,” said Foreign
Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in a statement released on March 2. “We will
continue to meet every act of aggression by Russia’s leadership with measures
designed to weaken its ability to wage war. As the horrific events in Ukraine
continue to unfold before our eyes, it is clear more must be done. Those who aid
and abet Russian aggression will be held accountable. Canada stands with
Ukraine.”

Multinationals such as oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell have also moved to
sever ties with Kremlin-linked entities. Those two companies announced in late
February 2022 that they planned to walk away from tens of billions of dollars in
Russian stakes connected with Rosneft and Gazprom.

When asked by The Narwhal how the government plans to deal with Canadian
companies or investors who said they plan to maintain their operations or
investments in Russia, Global Affairs Canada said it’s monitoring the impact on
business and investment, and any violation of the sanctions, which is a criminal
offence, can be investigated by the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police.

“The Government of Canada recommends that companies assess their operations,
take any appropriate action to comply with Canadian sanctions measures and
export and brokering controls, and uphold high standards of human rights and
responsible business conduct,” spokesperson Patricia Skinner said in an email.

Nearly a year later, in Dec. 2022, Global Affairs Canada announced it would take
sanctions another step further and seek a court application to seize and
redistribute US$26 million in assets from Granite Capital Holdings, a company
owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. It would be the first use of a
new power granted by Parliament in June 2022, and make Canada the first G7
country to seize the assets of a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

The proceeds would go to the reconstruction of Ukraine and compensation for
victims of Russia’s invasion, Global Affairs Canada said.

“Putin’s oligarchs are complicit in Russia’s illegal and barbaric invasion of
Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement. “Canada
will not be a haven for their ill-gotten gains.”

Here is a look at some of the Canadian companies still doing business in Russia,
along with some Russian companies that have operations here.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin
before the opening session at the Paris Peace Forum 2018. Photo: Adrian Wyld /
The Canadian Press


SNC-LAVALIN

Project management | Montreal

SNC-Lavalin’s joint venture with Rosneft has been in a company called OAO
VNIPIneft, a Moscow-based engineering firm specializing in oil refining and
petrochemical projects. Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin once saw OAO VNIPIneft as
lending its “local expertise” to help strengthen the Canadian firm’s “strategic
position in Russia,” describing it in 2009 as a “leading engineering company
with 80 years of experience.”

More recently, however, it has been trying to exit the deal. “We started the
process to divest this joint venture in 2019-20. This is still ongoing,” said
SNC-Lavalin’s senior director of external communications Harold Fortin in a
March 2 email. “We are following the situation closely to ensure that the
ongoing divestment process in OAO VNIPIneft is made in compliance with the
applicable provisions.” 



When SNC-Lavalin first revealed its 48 per cent stake in OAO VNIPIneft in 2009,
the company had high hopes for the deal opening the door to Russia’s oil and gas
market, the Globe and Mail reported at the time. SNC-Lavalin reported about $43
million as its share of annual revenue from OAO VNIPIneft, and said the company
had about 900 employees and had been involved in dozens of refineries and other
industrial projects. 

In August 2021, SNC-Lavalin said it had sold off its oil and gas business to
focus on “core engineering services.” The sale of that business and the decision
to divest from OAO VNIPIneft demonstrates the company’s commitment to pull away
from Russia, Fortin said. Other than the ongoing divestment, he added, “we have
no current commercial activities in Russia.”

Asked if any U.S. or Canadian sanctions apply to any interests that SNC-Lavalin
has in Russia, Fortin replied that “the sanctions position is now rapidly
evolving.” 

Company president and CEO Ian L. Edwards did not mention the joint venture
during SNC-Lavalin’s fourth-quarter earnings call on March 3, nor was he asked
about it by any analysts on the call. Edwards said the company has been focused
on “winding down and disposing of non-core businesses, and exiting
underperforming geographies,” including the sale of the oil and gas business,
“an important strategic milestone for the company in our effort to de-risk the
business.”

Canada has imposed several waves of sanctions against Russian individuals and
organizations under the Special Economic Measures Act, to respond to what the
government has called as a “violation of the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Ukraine” as well as “grave human rights violations.” 

The sanctions are essentially an asset freeze, and block any dealings on any
person or entity listed in the regulation’s schedule. This means no person in
Canada, and no Canadian outside Canada, can “deal in any property” that is held
by, or on behalf of, one of the listed names. They also cannot “enter into or
facilitate” any transactions related to those dealings, provide any services or
make any goods available.


MAGNA INTERNATIONAL 

Automobile manufacturing and technology | Aurora, Ont.

Magna International has six manufacturing facilities and roughly 2,500 employees
in Russia. On March 3, Magna said in a statement to Reuters that it would idle
its operations in Russia. It was not immediately clear whether workers would be
laid off. Magna’s 2020 annual report lists $345 million in “external sales”
coming from Russia in 2020, and $120 million in “fixed assets” in Russia that
year. 

“Like most in the international community, we remain deeply concerned with the
very unfortunate situation in Ukraine,” Magna vice president Tracy Fuerst said
in a statement. 

The day before, Louise Colledge, Magna International’s global director of
external communications, had confirmed that the company’s operations in Russia
were still running. Colledge did not respond to questions about whether the
company’s interests in Russia were subject to U.S. or Canadian sanctions. 

“We continue to monitor the very fluid situation and are working closely with
our customers to respond to changes as quickly as possible,” said Colledge. “Our
focus is on maintaining business continuity.”

She added that the Russia-Ukraine war is “a very unfortunate development” and
the company was “respectful to the human aspect of this situation and [wishes]
for the best to all those impacted.”


AZARGA METALS

Mining | White Rock, B.C. 

Azarga Metals acquired the Unkur Copper-Silver Project in Zabaikalsky, in
eastern Russia in 2016. The company lists a “pre-tax net present value of
US$203.6 million” for Unkur on its website. It says its work so far has been on
geologic mapping on the surface, as well as geochemical sampling, drilling and
other activity. 

Director Gordon Tainton confirmed March 2 that the B.C.-based company still
owns the project, and that it was Azarga’s only interest in Russia. Tainton
denied the project is subject to U.S. or Canadian sanctions and offered “no
comment” when asked if he has plans to withdraw or scale back Russian
interests. 


HATCH

Engineering and development consulting | Mississauga, Ont. 

As Russia bombed hospitals and schools in Ukraine on Wednesday, Hatch declined
to answer questions about the status of one of its projects at a mine in
Russia’s far east region of Khabarovsk Krai. The mine is owned by Polymetal
International Inc., which is headquartered in St. Petersburg. 

Polymetal’s largest shareholder is the Russian billionaire Alexander Nesis, the
British newspaper The Times reported. Nesis is on the U.S. Treasury Department’s
list of Russian oligarchs — which has come under fire for being copied from a
Forbes list of billionaires — but neither he nor Polymetal are included in
Canada’s sanctions. He founded Polymetal and his brother Vitaly is the company’s
CEO. 

Polymetal provided the Russian government with $170,006,000 in payments in 2019,
according to the company’s filings. The total includes mining royalties and
other licensing fees. 

Hatch’s work with Polymetal involves helping the miner double its capacity to
process gold. Hatch, which has offices all over the world, began working with
Polymetal in 2017 and plans to wrap up in 2023. Hatch has offices in St.
Petersburg and Moscow, and wouldn’t say if it has any other ventures in Russia.

“We are very concerned about the conflict in Ukraine and our first priority is
the safety of our employees,” said Lindsay Janca, Hatch’s global director of
public relations, in an email.

“As a company with global operations, Hatch fully complies with the laws of all
jurisdictions in which we operate. We are monitoring the situation and will
follow governmental sanctions and other business constraints placed on Russia.”

Toronto-based Kinross Gold operates two facilities in Russia. The Kupol mine is
located in the Chukotka region, accessible along an ice road in Siberia’s far
northeast. Photo: Kinross Gold


KINROSS GOLD

Mining | Toronto

The recent scramble to exit Russia has found Toronto-based mining company
Kinross Gold exposed as part of an investor-led push to sell off Russian
holdings. After initially saying it would forge ahead in Russia and that its
mines were operating according to plan, Kinross abruptly announced March 3 that
it would suspend activity “for the safety and well-being” of employees. A month
later, the company announced plans to sell its Russian assets to Highland Gold
Mining Ltd., one of the largest miners operating in the country.

In February, when Kinross was operating two facilities in Russia, CEO J. Paul
Rollinson called the country a “great place” for the company during a fourth
quarter earnings call, according to the Financial Post. The Kinross Kupol mine
is located in the Chukotka region, accessible along an ice road in Siberia’s far
northeast about 1,000 kilometres from Alaska. The company, one of the world’s
largest gold producers, has said the facility has “one of the lowest operating
costs” in its portfolio.

The company had also been doing feasibility studies at a second site, the Udinsk
resource pit at Chilbatkan, located further to the south in Russia’s far east.
Work completed last year “reaffirms Kinross’ view of the asset as a low-cost and
high-return project,” and Kinross had expected to start production in 2025, the
company’s website says.  

Now, Kinross is seeking to offload both its active and exploration facilities in
Russia for $680 million, a price analysts said was below the assets’ estimated
value. To go forward, the deal needs formal approval from the Russian
government.

In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea, the company hired three lobbyists with
ties to then-prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in a push
to avoid sanctions. In the end, Kinross saw “enhanced” profit margins that year,
Rollinson said last month, according to Post. 

“All I can say is we’ve operated there successfully for many years with strong
support from the Russian government,” Rollinson said in February. “We’re good in
our communities. We pay our taxes. And we think we’re quite welcome there, and
it’s been a great place for us.”

In 2013, Kinross contributed about $105.5 million in taxes, royalties and
payments to Russian governments.

Kinross, one of the world’s largest gold producers, has said the Kupol mine has
“one of the lowest operating costs” in its portfolio. Photo: Kinross Gold

On Feb. 23, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, the company said in a
statement that it wasn’t affected by U.S. sanctions against Russia and had no
plans to stop operating, noting that its mines are 7,000 kilometres from
Ukraine. Its facilities have a full years’ worth of supplies on hand, with 98
per cent of their employees local to Russia. Kinross also refines gold in
Russia, and said it “retains flexibility to sell its gold domestically and
internationally.”

“Kinross has successfully operated in Russia for more than 25 years and has
previously managed through similar situations while complying with applicable
laws,” the Feb. 23 statement said. But the company’s assurances didn’t assuage
the concerns of analysts, some of whom said Russia could seek to nationalize
Kinross assets there.

In its March 3 statement announcing the suspension of operations, Kinross said
it hasn’t been affected by current sanctions against Russia. It didn’t respond
to questions from The Narwhal about its long-term plans for its Russian assets.

The company’s position has already pushed some backers to divest, including
Toronto-based Purpose Investments, which manages an estimated $14 billion in
assets.


PURPOSE INVESTMENTS / WEALTHSIMPLE

Financial services | Toronto

On March 1, Toronto-based Purpose Investments, which manages an estimated $14
billion in assets, and Wealthsimple, which manages over $15 billion, published a
letter pledging to sell off Russian investments. It was signed by 100 business
leaders and investment managers who called on others to follow them, the Toronto
Star reported.

In an interview with The Star, Purpose Investments CEO Som Seif said that the
firm has started selling off shares of non-Russian companies which have
significant holdings in Russia. He specifically mentioned Kinross Gold. 

The Chief Information Officer at Purpose Investments, Greg Taylor, told The
Narwhal that they sold the Kinross position “early in the crisis,” and Purpose
is “not adding it back until the company (Kinross) clarifies its position on the
crisis.”

Taylor said the company didn’t have any direct holdings of Russian companies and
didn’t have any bonds directly in Russian companies. “All of our Russian
exposure was via (Exchange Traded Funds) that traded in U.S. markets,” he said
in an emailed statement. The largest of these positions was three per cent of
one fund, he said.

He said all of Purpose’s divesting from Russian company exposure, and companies
with significant business in Russia was completed by close of business on Feb.
28. 

At Wealthsimple, communications director Rachael Factor said the investment firm
had banned buying of stocks of Russian-listed companies on its brokerage
platform, as well as “companies with more than 50 per cent of revenue from
Russia.” Users with those holdings can still sell them off, she said. 

Wealthsimple also runs managed investment portfolios: Factor said its “Standard
portfolios” hold two Exchange Traded Funds that represent about 0.2 per cent of
Russian exposure.

“Right now, no new money is being invested in Russian securities and we are
working with our index providers to remove existing holdings and/or find
replacement funds,” she said.


NORDGOLD

Mining | London, United Kingdom and Moscow, Russia

Multinational Nordgold operates the Pistol Bay exploration project in Nunavut,
on the west coast of Hudson Bay. Nordgold began work there in 2011 and holds the
mineral rights to 860 square kilometres of land. The company is backed by Alexey
Mordashov, an oligarch dubbed Russia’s richest man who met with Vladimir Putin
the day the Russian president began his invasion of Ukraine.

Nordgold is controlled by the family of Mordashov, a billionaire steel baron who
has come under fire from the European Union in recent days for his financial
interest in Rossiya Bank, which Canada has sanctioned, and which the bloc calls
the “personal bank” of senior Russian officials who benefitted from the
country’s annexation of Crimea. The European Union also said it believes
Mordashov invests in pro-Russia TV stations that helped destabilize Ukraine.

In 2019, Mordashov transferred some of his shares in Nordgold to his sons,
Nikita and Kirill, saying the move was meant to help them learn how to manage
portfolios. Under pressure this week, he transferred a US$1.1 billion stake in
the company to his wife and stepped down from his role as a director. He still
holds up to half of Nordgold’s shares.

Mordashov has called for an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, calling it a
“tragedy” that people on both sides are dying and Russia’s economy is
collapsing. “I have absolutely nothing to do with the current geopolitical
tensions. I don’t understand why sanctions have been imposed against us,” he
said. 

Nordgold’s camp in Nunavut, located near the hamlet of Whale Cove, operates from
June to October. Late last year, the municipality of Whale Cove signed off on
Nordgold’s plans to move the camp to a different location that would allow it to
open earlier in the year, in March. The territory’s government approved the
change in January.

Whale Cove and the Government of Nunavut didn’t respond to requests for comment
from The Narwhal. Nordgold, which is not on Canada’s list of sanctioned
businesses, didn’t answer questions about whether the company has been affected
by sanctions or whether it plans to continue operating in Canada. 


SPARTAN DELTA 

Oil and gas | Calgary 

Russian oligarch Igor Makarov bought a 21 per cent stake in Spartan Delta Corp.
last spring through his company Areti Energy, becoming the Calgary natural gas
company’s largest shareholder. 

On March 28, Makarov’s firm released a statement saying Areti was selling off 15
million shares of Spartan Delta, or 9.8 per cent, for a total of $121.5 million,
representing over half of its stake.

The purpose of the selloff, Areti wrote, was to “generate immediate liquidity
and reduce Areti’s overall economic exposure to Spartan.” Areti said it still
owned 8.4 per cent of Spartan Delta shares.

Makarov was born in Turkmenistan and is a former track cyclist. He previously
founded the natural gas company Itera, a precursor to Areti, which entered a
joint venture with Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft in 2012. The
following year, Rosneft bought out Makarov’s remaining shares of Itera for $2.9
billion. 

Areti — which is Itera backwards —  is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Neither the
company nor Makarov have been sanctioned by Canada.

Spartan Delta didn’t respond to questions from The Narwhal about whether it has
been affected by sanctions. Areti didn’t answer when asked whether it plans to
continue holding a stake in the Calgary company. In a statement to the Financial
Post, an American PR firm representing Areti denied that Makarov has any ties to
Putin.

Roman Abramovich, centre, at a Chelsea Football Club game in 2019. Photo: Amir
Hosseini / Wikimedia Commons


EVRAZ

Steel manufacturing and mining | London, United Kingdom

Moscow-founded Evraz runs facilities in Regina and four cities in Alberta, and
supplied materials to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. TC Energy has
also said that an Evraz plant in Saskatchewan supplied the “majority of
materials” for the 390,000 tonnes of pipe it said it needed for its
670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline. The pipeline company said this resulted
in hundreds of millions of dollars spent on materials purchased in Canada.

Evraz is in the spotlight over some of its backers’ ties to the Kremlin. One
significant backer played hockey with the authoritarian leader. The company’s
biggest investor, Roman Abramovich, is a billionaire long alleged to be close to
Putin and received a US$450 million dividend from Evraz the day after Ukraine
was invaded.

Abramovich, best known as the owner of England’s Chelsea Football Club, is a
wealthy oligarch who owns a yacht with a missile-detection system and a $200
million home near Kensington Palace, among other properties. His wife is a
longtime friend of Ivanka Trump, daughter of former U.S. president Donald Trump.
He owns a nearly 29 per cent stake in Evraz. Last year, Russian dissident Alexei
Navalny — who was poisoned and imprisoned by Russia in 2020 — included
Abramovich on a list of “key enablers and beneficiaries of Russian
kleptocracy.” 

Under increasing scrutiny, he announced on March 2 that he would sell his soccer
club. Meanwhile, a United Kingdom MP alleged the billionaire was also seeking to
get rid of his British properties before facing sanctions. He was also present
for peace talks in Belarus between Ukraine and Russia, with a spokesperson
saying he was “trying to help” end the war. 

The United Kingdom announced sanctions against Abramovich on March 10, which
froze the oligarch’s British assets and effectively blocked the sale of Chelsea.
In a statement, the government said it would be willing to consider allowing the
soccer club to eventually be sold, though Abramovich wouldn’t be able to access
the proceeds while sanctions continue. The United Kingdom also alleged that
Abramovich has “effective control” over Evraz, using the company to destabilize
Ukraine and “potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have
been used in the production of tanks.” Evraz denied the those claims and said 10
of its board members quit after the British government announced sanctions.

Still, Canada followed suit and sanctioned the billionaire on March 11, freezing
his assets here. While they are in place, Abramovich is barred from selling or
doing anything else with his shares of Evraz. Speaking to reporters in Warsaw,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the sanctions won’t affect Evraz’s employees
in Canada.

“The sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs like Abramovich are directed
at them so that they cannot profit or benefit from economic activities in
Canada, or the hard work of Canadians working in companies that they have
investments in,” Trudeau said.

Ambramovich’s list of troubles got even longer with the Dec. 2022 news that
Canada would move to confiscate assets from Granite Capital Holdings, a firm he
owns. The company isn’t headquartered in Canada, but the money targeted by the
federal government was being held in a Canadian bank account. Someone had frozen
an attempt to move the funds to a bank in the Cayman Islands, the Globe and Mail
reported.

It’s not clear how the proposed seizure might affect Abramovich’s other assets,
including his stake in Evraz. The company’s entire board of directors resigned
in March 2022, and Evraz announced in August that it was looking to sell its
assets in the U.S. and Canada.

Evraz, one of Regina’s biggest employers, had already delivered all the pipe
needed to finish the Trans Mountain Expansion, Freeland said. The company also
provided pipe for TC Energy’s now-cancelled Keystone XL pipeline. 

Evraz did not respond to questions from The Narwhal. The company has previously
emphasized that its Canadian operations are headed by a subsidiary based in the
United States. Its stock plummeted as Russia attacked Kyiv. 

The company’s other top shareholders as of March 2022 were Russian oligarchs
Alexander Abramov, Evgeny Shvidler, Alexander Frolov and Maxim Vorobyev. None
were initially included in Canada’s sanctions, but Frolov was added to the list
later in 2022.

Vorobyev’s brother Andrey is the governor of the Moscow administrative district,
according to Russian independent media outlet Meduza, which has also reported
that as of 2018, Vorobyev was part of a casual hockey group with Putin called
the Night Hockey League. 


SILVER BEAR RESOURCES

Mining | London, UK and Yakutsk, Russia

Silver Bear Resources — which operates a silver mine in Russia’s Far East, about
400 kilometers north of the city of Yakutsk — is listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange. 

And up until recently, the junior mining company had an even closer tie with
Canada: its longtime board chair was Christopher Westdal, a former Canadian
ambassador to both Russia and Ukraine who for years praised Putin, saying he was
among the “finest leaders Russia’s had in centuries.” 

Westdal resigned from his post at Silver Bear on Feb. 28, four days after the
invasion of Ukraine. Though the company’s statement cited “personal reasons,”
Westdal told the National Post he had stepped down in an effort to cut ties with
Russia. He also issued a mea culpa, saying he apologized for his past stance:
“Would that I’d seen the light and done it sooner,” he said.

As recently as 2020, Silver Bear has said one of its major shareholders is
Moscow-based Aterra Capital, owned by Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov, who
also backs Nordgold. The company didn’t answer when asked whether Aterra is
still involved. Its website lists Aterra vice president Maxim Matveev as a
member of its board of directors. 

Silver Bear Resources did not immediately respond to questions about whether it
continues to operate in Russia, or whether it would remain listed on the Toronto
Stock Exchange. The company employs 270 Russian locals, along with 50
consultants there. It refines and sells silver within Russia.

On Feb. 23, the company said it had a full year of supplies on hand at its
Russian mine and was unaffected by sanctions. It didn’t answer when asked by The
Narwhal whether it had been affected by more recent rounds of sanctions. On Feb.
28, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine fully in motion, Silver Bear said it was
“assessing the risks associated with the sanctions.”

“At present the company has several alternatives to make hard currency payments
when necessary,” Silver Bear said in the Feb. 28 statement. 


BOMBARDIER 

Business aircraft | Montréal

Despite exiting commercial aviation in 2020, selling its stake to Airbus and
then selling off its rail business to Alstom the next year, Bombardier has
remained active in over a dozen countries, including Russia. 

The market made up of Russia along with European and Central Asian countries in
the Commonwealth of Independent States represented its second-largest source of
revenues, Bombardier said in a 2021 financial report. 

After saying goodbye to commercial jets and trains, the company has been focused
on its fleet of business aircraft, providing support, maintenance, parts and
other services to about 5,000 planes in service, owned by governments,
corporations and individuals. 

That includes a group within Bombardier called “Specialized Aircraft” that
modifies its planes for government requirements like surveillance and
reconnaissance, as well as VIP transportation and medical uses. 

It also runs facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico focused on
aerostructure, assembly and completion.

On March 4, Bombardier said in a statement that it had “suspended all activities
with Russian clients, including all forms of technical assistance.” The company
said it “continues to be deeply saddened by the unfolding humanitarian crisis in
Ukraine and Europe” and that it would be donating $150,000 to the Canadian Red
Cross.

“As a company with deep roots in communities around the world, we are first and
foremost concerned with the loss of human life and the toll this conflict is
taking on families. We would like to reiterate our condolences to everyone who
has suffered loss over the past days. We will do our part, in any way possible,
to help the governments around the world pursue an end to this horrific
conflict.”

The company’s statement did not reveal if it was subject to specific sanctions,
but said it would “continue to adhere to international laws, regulations and
sanctions, as they evolve.”

Updated on March 28, 2022 at 2:03 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include
news of Areti selling off Spartan Delta shares.

Updated on March 11, 2022 at 11:20 a.m. ET: This story was updated to include
news of Canada’s sanctions against Roman Abramovich.

Updated on March 10, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include
Silver Bear Resources and Bombardier. At 2:26 p.m. E.T.: This story was updated
to include new British sanctions on Roman Abramovich.

Updated on March 8, 2022, at 6:20 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include a
response from Global Affairs Canada.

Updated on March 3, 2022, at 6:35 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include
news that Magna has idled its Russian operations.

Updated on April 5, 2022, at 3:33 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include
news that Kinross is seeking to sell its Russian assets.

Updated on Jan. 5, 2023, at 11:45 a.m. ET: This story was updated to include
newer information about Evraz, and a move by the federal government to seize
assets from Roman Abramovich.



Banner: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly travelled to the Poland-Ukraine
border this week. While she has said that "we will continue to meet every act of
aggression by Russia’s leadership with measures designed to weaken its ability
to wage war," multiple Canadian companies seem to have evaded punishment for
ongoing resource extraction and manufacturing ventures with Russian partners.
Photo: Mélanie Joly / Facebook

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Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
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as their hearts desire.

They’ve filed more than 300 requests this year — and unearthed a veritable
mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount
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As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to
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Published By
Carl Meyer
Carl Meyer is The Narwhal's climate investigations reporter, based in Ottawa.
From 2017 to 2021 he worked at Canada's National Obs...
Emma McIntosh
Emma McIntosh is a reporter based in Toronto who really likes being outside. She
started her career in newspapers, working for the...



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