DORCHESTER-based housing association Magna has been named as receiving fuel supplies from the Russian company, Gazprom for the past year.

The information is contained on a Government public contracts website.

It shows Magna Housing Ltd, based at Oak House, Poundbury Road, Dorchester as having a year-long £63,818 contract with the Russian company, ending this month.

The company was emailed on Friday morning and again on Monday to ask if it would continue its involvement with Gazprom Energy in the light of the situation in Ukraine, but has not responded. The company phone number was only taking emergency calls for housing clients.

Magna is shown on the Government site as having had a smaller, £10,455, contract with Gazprom Energy, which ended on March 31st, 2019.

Both contracts listed on the Government site were awarded through an Aspire Housing Framework Agreement which acts as a bulk buyer on behalf of a number of clients for gas and electricity and other fuels.

The same Government website lists the Aspirations Academic Trust, which manages some schools in the county as also having contracts with Gazprom Energy although there is no detail given about whether or not there is a direct connection, or any connection at all, with Dorset schools.

The Dorset Pension Fund, which meets on Thursday this week, had already been investigating withdrawing from fossil fuel businesses which its portfolio is invested in for climate change reasons.

A verbal report is expected to be given to members at the meeting. Climate activists are planning to stage a demonstration outside County Hall just before the meeting.

Two UK councils, Merton and Suffolk, have reported that they had pulled out of deals with Gazprom – the Merton contract worth £1m was due to begin on April 1st.

Suffolk has said it will end a £10m contract as soon as it can using a break clause.

According to The Guardian newspaper Gazprom Energy has been one of the biggest single suppliers to UK businesses since 2010, accounting for more than 20 per cent of the market and supplying 178,000 sites, including the NHS, councils, businesses and public sector bodies.