The Caisse de depot et placement du Québec still has several balls in companies that are located in countries sanctioned by Canada, including China, Russia and Myanmar.
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Currently, 21 countries are on this blacklist. If the Caisse de depot et placement (CDPQ) has no “direct exposure” in most of these States, in particular in Venezuela, Iran or Libya, as of December 31, 2020 it held significant stakes in Russia.
The country, already ejected from the G8 following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and sanctioned by Canada, is now threatened with new condemnations in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. These can target the country, but also individuals or entities.
The woolen stocking of Quebecers has notably invested in the Sberbank bank ($120 million), its largest holding in the country of Vladimir Putin. The Russian state is the majority owner of Sberbank.
But it is especially in the energy sector that the institution has the most money. At the end of 2020, she owned 30.5 million shares of giant Gazprom (worth $112 million), $49 million in Novatek and $21 million in Rosneft, Russia’s second-largest oil producer.
Without going into the details of its investments, the Caisse claims to take these geopolitical concerns into consideration.
In Myanmar…
“The CDPQ respects the Canadian sanctions regime in all its decisions and takes social, environmental and governance issues very seriously,” said Caisse spokesperson Kate Monfette.
As reported The newspaper in February, the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec also held a stake in a major player in the gas industry in Myanmar, also sanctioned by Canada.
The institution had 2.4 million shares of Thai company PTT Exploration & Production PCL (PTTEP) with a value valued at $10.1 million in its latest annual report.
Myanmar is rocked by the crackdown by the military junta that ousted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kii from power.
And in China…
In June, The newspaper reported that the Caisse held $370 million in investments in fifteen Chinese companies subject to US government restrictions and included in President Joe Biden’s blacklist.
In China Mobile, which is the world’s largest mobile operator, CDPQ had equity investments valued at $248.5 million, according to the organization’s latest annual report.
We will have to wait for the publication of the next annual report to find out if the Caisse has reduced its exposure to China, but the institution says it is watching what is happening in our southern neighbor without, however, copying the same decisions.
“We are not subject to the US sanctions regime, but the analysis of the various sanctions regimes is an integral part of our risk analyses,” said Ms.me Monfette.
Countries on Canada’s blacklist
- Belarus
- North Korea
- Iran
- Iraq
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mali
- Myanmar
- Nicaragua
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- People’s Republic of China
- Russia
- Somalia
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Ukraine
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
Source: Government of Canada