The breach was in relation to a UK exporter that made goods
available to Russia, prohibited under the Russia Sanctions
Regulations
Breach: ‘making available' goods offence under
the Russia sanctions
Date of settlement: May 2025
Amount of settlement: £1,160,725.67
Notice: Notice to Exporters: NTE
2025/18
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concluded a compound settlement in
relation to a UK exporter that made goods available to Russia in
breach of The Russia (Sanctions)(EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The
compound settlement involved a penalty of £1,160,725.67, which
was paid to HMRC in May 2025.
Key compliance lessons Risk of
exporting to ‘third countries'
Russian companies (companies incorporated in Russia) operate in
third countries.
Sanctions on making goods available to persons connected to
Russia can be breached by UK companies exporting sanctioned goods
to Russian companies that are operating in third
countries.
UK companies exporting sanctioned goods to Central Asia and other
regions where Russian companies have branches and operations
should check whether the consignee, end-user or any other party
receiving or taking control of the goods is a Russian-owned
company.
Risk of being uninformed
Ignorance of sanctions is not an excuse.
When new trade sanctions are introduced, types of trade that were
previously allowed become prohibited. Ignorance of sanctions is
not an excuse. To avoid unwittingly breaching sanctions,
companies should sign up to
get UK sanctions email alerts to be informed of new sanctions
measures before they take effect.
Businesses should review their trading relationships in light of
new sanctions and seek professional legal advice on current and
prospective trade if they are unsure whether it complies with
sanctions.
Meaning of ‘connected with Russia' in the
regulations
Within the Russia regulations there are prohibitions on making
certain goods, technology or software available directly or
indirectly for use in Russia or to ‘a person connected with
Russia'. The regulations set out when a person is to be regarded
as ‘connected with' Russia as:
- an individual who is, or an association or combination of
individuals who are, ordinarily resident in Russia
- an individual who is, or an association or combination of
individuals who are, located in Russia
- a person, other than an individual, which is incorporated or
constituted under the law of Russia, or
- a person, other than an individual, which is domiciled in
Russia
The key point to note in this context is that this definition
includes Russian incorporated companies operating anywhere in the
world.
Scope of the ‘making available' prohibition in the
regulations
The following regulations prohibit making sanctioned goods,
technology and software available for use in Russia or to a
‘person connected with Russia' in:
- Regulation 25 (relating to restricted good and
technology)
- Regulation 42 (relating to energy-related goods and
technology)
- Regulation 46B (relating to luxury goods)
- Regulation 46L (relating to banknotes)
- Regulation 46N (relating to jet fuel and fuel
additives)
- Regulation 46Y (relating to G7 dependency and further goods
and technology)
- Regulation 46Z30 (relating to Russia's vulnerable goods and
technology)
- Regulation 46Z34 (relating to sectoral software and
technology)
Regulation 30D prohibits making restricted goods and technology
available for use in non-government controlled Ukrainian
territory or to a ‘person connected with non-government
controlled Ukrainian territory'.
Regulation 50 prohibits making infrastructure-related goods
available including directly or indirectly making them available
for use in non-government controlled Ukrainian territory or to a
‘person connected with non-government controlled Ukrainian
territory'.
