Berkshire Hathaway Braces For Protesters at Annual Meeting (BRK/A, PTR)

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A-NYSE) will have a new issue to deal with at its annual meeting this weekend.  It will have protesters outside calling for Berkshire Hathaway to sell its 1.1% stake in PetroChina (PTR-NYSE), whose parent (China National Petroleum) operates in Sudan.  By operating in Sudan it is tossed in with the pro-genocide camp by “using capitalism as an endorsement.”

The company in the past has defended its stake by noting that there is confusion about its parent’s involvement in Sudan.  Some groups believe that PertoChina has been in support of the government there.  Other pensions have sold stakes in an anti-Sudanese support movement.

The company made a statement back in February due to the controversial coverage and you can read that here at their website.  Warren Buffett is a hard man to criticize based on his last Billions of dollar giveaway announcement, but you have to wonder if they will decide to throw in the towel here for greener or less controversial pastures.

Jon C. Ogg
May 4, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.