Salford's mayor has called on the government to sanction Gazprom and to make it easier for councils to exclude the Russian gas firm from the usual contract tendering process.
Paul Dennett said Salford City Council does not want to renew a deal with Gazprom and is 'fully supportive' of economic sanctions against Russia.
The Russian state-owned firm is the council's current supplier for non-domestic natural gas - with its contact up for renewal in June this year.
The M.E.N. reported in June 2020 that Salford awarded Gazprom a £1.8m contract to supply the city’s schools, libraries and leisure centres for two years.
But UK local authorities have a statutory duty to find the cheapest deal on behalf of the public - and the Mayor said that the Russian-state owned firm's ability to be involved in a bid for tender is 'enshrined' in UK regulations.
Mr Dennett has written to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling on him to clarify if councils are able to lawfully exclude a deal with Gazprom.
"Our contract will be up for renewal in June, and I do not wish for public money to be spend towards the income of the Russian state during the present military crisis in Ukraine.
"However, at present under the current round of sanctions and/or rules, such considerations would seemingly not be considered legally relevant is assessing Gazprom's suitability for winning the next tendering exercise (or not)."
The Mayor believes, from looking at current legislation, that Gazprom does not meet any of the 'specified grounds of exclusion'.
"Which means that legally there may be no way to limit bids from these types of companies which would not be in line with the government's stated intentions to 'inflict devastating consequences on President Vladimir Putin and Russia' following Russia's unprovoked assault on the sovereign nation of Ukraine, using sanctions and other financial measures," he said.
The Mayor added: "Indeed, I would be interested to know if government has any intention to sanction Gazprom... given the ongoing approach to economic sanctions."
A government spokesperson said: “We will work closely with councils and other public bodies to ensure they are able to comply with the financial and investment restrictions on Russia and will engage with them on what support they need to do this.
“The UK is in no way dependent on Russian gas supply and our highly diverse sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix ensures that households, businesses, and heavy industry get the energy they need.”
