The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) refused to vote against the appointment of a Russian oil and gas executive for the position of Chair of ISO TC 67 subcommittee on arctic oil and gas operations. Oxebridge had previously reached out to the parties to press them to vote against the appointment of Gazprom executive Sergey Baranov. Gazprom is under international and US sanctions.
The final vote tally approves Baranov for the position, after he received 14 “Yes” votes, and only 5 “No” votes. Another 15 countries, including the United States, voted instead to abstain.
In its comments, the US committee, led by API representative Roland Goodman, praised Baranov put raised tepid concerns over the current problems with Russia:
While Mr. Baranov appears to be qualified for this position, the U.S. has concerns about Russia’s ability to effectively lead the subcommittee given the imposition of international sanctions resulting from the situation in Ukraine.
As a result of the “Abstain” votes, Baranov will be confirmed.
The countries that voted against Baranov’s nomination were Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
In a confusing move, Ukraine voted to confirm Baranov.
The move reveals ISO’s ongoing outreach to Russia in spite of that country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the declaration by the International Criminal Court that Russian President Vladimir Putin has engaged in war crimes. The ICC has issued an international arrest warrant for Putin.
Two weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ISO Secretary-General Sergio Mujica congratulated Russia. ISO has since refused to unseat Russian executives from key ISO standards development committees, including those for oil and gas and aerospace.
ANSI has oversight over the US domestic committee to TC 67, called the “TAG,” and did not respond to requests by Oxebridge that the US vote against Baranov. API currently holds functional sway over the TAG, as its primary secretariat.
Requests for clarification made to Goodman and API were not answered before publication.
