Britain suspects 52 companies of circumventing oil sanctions against the Russian Federation

The UK government is investigating 52 British companies for potential violations of Russian oil sanctions. However, none of them have been fined yet.

This is reported by the BBC.

Financial sanctions against Russia were imposed by Great Britain and other Western countries after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Then they limited the prices of Russian oil in order to reduce the profits of the Russian Federation from its sale. The limit prohibits British companies from transporting Russian oil, the cost of which exceeds $60 per barrel.

In December 2022, the Office for Financial Sanctions (OFSI) opened an investigation into 52 companies suspected of violating price caps. In March, OFSI received an additional £50m to improve the UKʼs sanctions regime. In August of this year, 15 investigations were completed, but none of the firms were fined. Another 37 cases are still under consideration.

The Ministry of Finance said it would take the necessary measures, but pointed to the complexity of the cases as the reason they were taking so long. Meanwhile, anti-corruption organization Global Witness said it was "very surprising" that no fines had been imposed so far and called for "bold action" against companies that violate sanctions.

The BBC does not have exact data on the firms, but says that some of them are probably marine insurance companies.

The head of Global Witness Wilson said that the companies under investigation could "pretty easily get" the documents that would get them out of trouble. He described the documents as "mostly promises, voluntary pieces of paper" and said they could be easily obtained even if the company was involved in transporting oil sold above the ceiling price.

Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Harriett told the BBC that "probably more could be done by the government and the oil sector itself because it appears that British importers are still bringing in oil that comes from Russia".

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