Suffolk County Council ditches Russian energy firm Gazprom over Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion

A county council has said it intends to quit its contract with a Russian-owned energy supplier as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Suffolk County Council has a contract for energy supplies with Gazprom, which is held by its wholly-owned company Vertas.

The contract was negotiated in 2019, began in 2020 and was due to run until 2023, with several organisations in Suffolk getting their gas through the contract.

Suffolk County Council leader Matthew Hicks said: "When Vladimir Putin made the immoral and utterly reprehensible decision to invade Ukraine, I instructed officers last week to review our contract with Russian-owned energy company Gazprom.

"I can confirm that we have decided to invoke our options to break away from the contract, ending our connection with Gazprom.

"The government is imposing economic sanctions on Russia and this is a part we can play in helping to bring to an end this act of aggression on a free and peaceful nation and its innocent people."

The authority confirmed that from April all its electricity would be supplied by EDF Energy for the next three years from renewable sources - a mix of wind, hydro and solar power.

UEFA has already suspended its partnership with Gazprom, which was worth £80m and included sponsorship of the Champions League and Euro 2024.

Shell announced it would end all of its joint ventures with the Russian state-controlled gas giant while Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is in talks to exit its supply deals.