Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Voi boss to meet metro mayor over Russia links
THE chief executive of the Swedish company behind the Voi e-scooters currently being trialled in the Bristol region is to visit the UK to meet the region’s Metro Mayor.
Last week, Dan Norris threatened to ban the company from operating in the area unless it severs ties to Russia.
The threats came following a report in the Swedish press.
It has emerged that one of the operator’s major shareholders has close links to Russia, which has been condemned for invading Ukraine. Voi has since said it was re-evaluating all its partners.
The Metro Mayor held a meeting earlier this week with Fredrik Hjelm, CEO of Voi Technology.
Mr Norris said the discussion was “frank and candid” and he welcomed the offer of a face-to-face meeting in the UK later in the month.
Mr Norris said: “It is vital that Voi do due diligence when it comes to any possible connection between their company and the Putin regime. If there are links they must end them.
“West of England residents expect nothing less and I made this abundantly clear.
”I expect all businesses to be doing the same. My message is stark but important: if you are in any way complicit in the horrors being perpetrated in Ukraine right now, you must and will be held to account.”
Voi has previously said it has ceased all business activities in Russia and its ally Belarus and is re-evaluating all its partners in light of the war to take ‘all actions deemed necessary to comply with sanctions’, including removing shareholders who ‘no longer align with our core values’.
Reports in Sweden say that a Russian businessman with links to a sanction oligarch owns more than £10 million of shares in Voi.