The UK has today (Wednesday 30) made new legislation to prohibit
maintenance on aircraft or ships belonging to specific sanctioned
Russian oligarchs or their businesses.
Through these new powers, laid in parliament through a Statutory
Instrument (SI), the UK can now prohibit sanctioned oligarchs
from benefitting from the UK’s world leading aviation and
maritime industries and engineers.
The new laws have been used immediately to sanction Russian
businessmen Eugene Shvidler and Oleg Tinkov.
Foreign Secretary said:
“There is no doubt that Putin and his elite have been
surprised by the strength of our sanctions.
“We will continue to ramp up the pressure so long as Russian
troops are in Ukraine, targeting not only the businesses of
oligarchs but also their assets and international
lifestyles.
“Tough sanctions will help Ukraine get the best possible
peace settlement and ultimately ensure Putin’s invasion fails.
That is our focus.”
Secretary of State for Transport
said:
“Today’s legislation adds new routes at our disposal to
deprive oligarchs’ access to their luxury toys.
“Our economic and transport sanctions are working to
suffocate those most complicit in Putin’s regime ensuring that no
one on UK soil can support Putin’s inhuman assault in
Ukraine.”
The new legislation has also extended the finance, trade and
shipping sanctions imposed on Crimea to non-government controlled
territory in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February, the UK has
sanctioned banks with £500 billion of global asset value and more
than £150 billion of net worth from oligarchs and their family
members.
The UK government will continue to utilise deeper and broader
measures to cripple those who support Putin’s regime and his
callous war, working in lockstep with the G7 and our
international allies.
ENDS
Background
-
Asset freeze - An asset freeze prevents any UK
citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds
or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by
the designated person and which are held in the UK. It will
also prevent funds or economic resources being provided to or
for the benefit of the designated person.
-
Travel ban - A travel ban means that the
designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain
in the United Kingdom, providing the individual to be an
excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act
1971.
-
Transport sanctions - Recently introduced
powers make it a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to
fly or land in the UK and give the government powers to remove
aircraft belonging to designated Russian individuals and
entities from the UK aircraft register, even if the sanctioned
individual is not on board. Russian ships are also banned from
UK ports.
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The UK and our international partners have imposed the
largest and most severe package of sanctions ever on any major
economy. The government has designated over 1200 individuals and
entities close to Putin – including 76 oligarchs and 16 banks
with a global net worth of £150 billion and £500 billion
respectively.
- The new Government Information Cell (GIC) identifies and
counters Russian disinformation which enables the government to
negate the Kremlin’s attempts to target and undermine democratic
societies via disinformation campaigns.
