According to a report by Swiss-based RepRisk, Gazprom has been repeatedly criticized over the past 12 months for “pollution, impacts on indigenous people, corruption, and anti-competitive practices”.  In particular, Gazprom’s plan to drill for oil in the Arctic has been condemned by environmentalists who raised concerns about the delayed response to a potential spill in such a harsh climate.

      Second place belongs to Arktikmor Neftegaz Razvedka, a unit of Gazflot, mainly due to an accident in December 2011 when a drilling rig towed from the Okhotskoe Sea to Sakhalin Island capsized during a heavy storm killing 53 people. Before that, the company had come under fire for exploratory drilling in the Arctic region in 2011.

      FEMCO, ranked third in the RepRisk index, was implicated in a diplomatic scandal in June 2012 when the Pentagon signaled the ship owned by Femco was carrying fighter helicopters to Syria.

      RepRisk has released its report on the most controversial companies headquartered in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The report analyzes documented controversies, both fact and allegation, related to the three firms that received the highest Peak RepRisk Index within each country between October 2011 and October 2012.