Two French and American energy giants yesterday announced they have suspended cash payments to Myanmar as protesters in cities around the world demand they stop funding military rule.
Under pressure to stop funding the regime which seized power earlier this year, France’s Total said in a statement that it would “suspend all cash distributions” to shareholders of Moattama Gas Transportation Co. prior to a Friday meeting with shareholders.
“In light of the unstable context in Myanmar, following a joint proposal by Total and Chevron at the occasion of a shareholders’ meeting of MGTC (Moattama Gas Transportation Company Limited) held on 12th May 2021, cash distributions to the shareholders of the company have been suspended,” the statement said.
Chevron said it supported the move in a statement: “Chevron condemns the violence and human rights abuses occurring in Myanmar. We stand with the people of Myanmar and the global community in urging for a peaceful resolution that respects the will of the people.”
The companies are the two largest shareholders in Myanmar’s Yadana gas project.
Rights groups welcomed the move as an initial step. However, the suspension only affects about 10% of revenues generated by the Yadana offshore gas project, according to an analysis yesterday by Earth Rights International.
⚠️IMPORTANT UPDATE⚠️: #Chevron and #Total announce suspension of cash dividends from its pipelines in #Myanmar to junta-controlled MOGE
This is good progress, but it’s also the floor.
THREAD 🔽 #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar (1/)
— EarthRights Intl. (@EarthRightsIntl) May 26, 2021
The land rights NGO called the move a “small step in the right direction” but called for a “complete shutdown of revenue sharing” with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a state-owned oil and gas enterprise.
“With this move the companies acknowledge that it’s deeply problematic to hand over millions of dollars to this illegal regime, and they no longer have any excuses for not halting ALL revenue from the Yadana project,” EarthRights said on social media.
An investigation by French newspaper Le Monde found Total and Myanmar’s junta both benefited financially from an offshore Bermuda scheme that functioned through Moattama Gas, a holding company registered in the tax-free haven. It paid out dividends to its shareholders – Total, Chevron, Thai petrochemical giant PTTEP and Myanmar Oil and Gas – at the expense of Myanmar taxpayers.
After the expose, Total retaliated by canceling EUR50,000 (US$61,000) worth of planned advertising in Le Monde.
Global pressure
Civil society groups in the United States, France and Myanmar staged rallies yesterday calling on Total and Chevron to halt the payments to Myanmar’s military.
At protests held in New York, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston, people also demanded that the U.S. government sanction Myanma Oil and Gas, or MOGE, as Chevron gathered for its annual general meeting.
Oil and gas revenues represent a lion’s share of foreign currency revenues for the Myanmar military, totalling over US$1 billion per year, according to watchdog Justice for Myanmar.
In New York, dozens of protestors, including monks and hunger strikers, rallied in Diversity Plaza, Queens. Some shaved their heads in protest to Chevron’s continued support for the Myanmar military, who stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity after killing over 800 since the Feb. 1 coup.
“We must make sure the coup fails and the payment must be suspended,” Nyunt Than, chair of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, told Coconuts Yangon. Than is one of the main organisers in San Francisco with a long history of activism against oil and gas companies and their involvement in Myanmar.
“We strongly urge President Biden to sanction MOGE so that payments are illegal until democracy is fully restored in Myanmar,” Than said.
Ahead of Total’s annual shareholder meeting on Friday, French civil society groups were planning an action in Paris to call attention to the energy firm’s destructive projects around the globe related to climate change, human rights and the environment.
“The money given by Total to the junta is not used for Myanmar but to oppress its population and divert its wealth to the benefit of a few,” Tin Tin Htar Myint, La Communaute Birmane de France President, told Coconuts Yangon.
Blood on their hands? Squeeze on junta’s corporate sponsors reaches French oil giant Total
“Total’s position in Burma must elicit more reactions and mobilizations from politicians and shareholders. The Group continues to finance a junta described by a UN expert as a murderous criminal enterprise while Burmese people are risking their lives for democracy,” Sophie Brondel, coordinator for Info Birmanie, a Myanmar advocacy group in France, told Coconuts Yangon.
The United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada have imposed a range of sanctions on the Myanmar military, its ruling junta known as the State Administrative Council and several state-owned enterprises – but oil and gas companies have remained off the table.
