Fit for purpose? Fears over robustness of UK's enforcement of Russia sanctions
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Fears have been raised over the robustness of Britain's trade sanctions against Russia after the main government department enforcing the rules admitted it has no idea how many cases it is investigating. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which monitors and polices flows of goods in and out of the country, says it had no central record of how many investigations it's carrying out into Russian sanctions. It also said that while it had issued six fines in relation to sanction-breaking since 2022, it would not name the firms sanctioned or provide any further detail on what they did wrong.
Money latest: Britons need to end 'obsession with work-life balance'. The disclosures were part of a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Sky News, as part of its wider investigation into the sanctions regime against Russia. In recent months we've reported on data showing flows of goods, including dual-use items which can be turned into weapons, from the UK into Caucasus and Central Asian states. We've shown how luxury British cars are being transported across the border from the Caucasus into Russia. And we've shown the contrast between rhetoric and reality on the various rules clamping down on trade in Russian fossil fuels.
But despite the challenges facing the sanctions regime, information on the enforcement of those sanctions is quite scant. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has so far only imposed a single £15,000 fine for breach of financial sanctions - in other words those moving money in or out of Russia or helping sanctioned individuals do so.
