The NGOs Darwin Climax Coalition, based in Bordeaux, and Razom We Stand, a Ukrainian organization that calls for an embargo on fossil fuel imports from Russia, seized Wednesday the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris judicial court of a complaint with a civil party, according to a source close to the case.

This procedure makes it possible to obtain the appointment of an investigating judge almost automatically.

In this document seen by AFP, the two plaintiffs accuse the French oil group of having continued to exploit a field in Russia after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and allowed to manufacture fuel used by Russian planes in the conflict.

The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (Pnat), competent in this matter, had closed on 10 January their first complaint for insufficiently serious offence, "after an in-depth analysis, both legal and factual, of all the elements transmitted by the complainants and, on its own initiative, by TotalEnergies".

The Pnat had then assured that it had "never hesitated to open investigations targeting legal persons when there was sufficient evidence".

The plaintiffs then appealed to the public prosecutor of the Paris Court of Appeal, which was also dismissed on February 27 "after studying the file".

"The refusal of justice to investigate is not explained in view of the very heavy bundle of clues we have and the very detailed nature of the complaint," said Thursday their lawyers, William Bourdon, Vincent Brengarth and Henri Thulliez.

"The judicial investigation will shed light on the actions, in a context of entrenchment of the Russian invasion and everything that feeds it, directly or indirectly," add the counsel.

'Unfounded' accusations

The complainants recall that TotalEnergies owned until September 2022 49% of the joint venture Terneftegaz, which operates the Termokarstovoye field in the Russian Far North.

The remaining 51% was held by Novatek, the number 2 Russian gas company, in which TotalEnergies holds a 19.4% stake.

However, according to Le Monde, the Termokarstovoye field supplied gas condensate to a refinery that made fuel then shipped to fuel Russian planes engaged in the conflict in Ukraine, at least until July.

The French energy giant had assured at the time that it did not produce "kerosene for the Russian army", then later said to have reached an agreement in July to sell its 49% in Terneftegaz to Novatek, sale finalized in September.

"TotalEnergies wants to put an end to this baseless controversy, which damages the reputation of the company," replied Thursday the group, which "has decided to take any legal action to put an end to it" and "will go to the end".

"We also recall that the accusations of +complicity in war crimes+ are outrageous and defamatory. Words have meaning and such words are unacceptable," the company added.

"These accusations against our company, which conducts its operations in strict compliance with EU policy and applicable European sanctions measures, are particularly serious and unfounded in light of the explanations we have provided," she insisted.

Before the conflict in Ukraine, TotalEnergies was one of the most exposed French groups in Russia in terms of energy, where it produced 16.6% of its hydrocarbons and 30% for gas alone. He had announced at the end of April 2022 a "beginning of decline".

In total, over the year 2022, TotalEnergies has written down for 15 billion dollars (13.8 billion euros) of Russian assets, selling in particular its activities in the Kharyaga oil field and the gas field, implicated by this complaint, of Termokarstovoie.

The latest session to date: a major automotive and industrial lubricants plant sold in mid-March.

The only major exception is that TotalEnergies continues at this stage its activities in the Yamal gas field, a colossal project that is not targeted by the European sanctions against Moscow.

© 2023 AFP