On 6 April 2022, the UK announced a significant enhancement to the sanctions regime on Russia. These sanctions, once enacted, will have relevance to the various British Overseas Territories – including but not limited to the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and Anguilla.

The new UK sanctions will be focussed on:

• A full asset freeze on the largest Russian banks (Sberbank and Credit Bank of Moscow). Sberbank, in particular, is Russia’s largest bank and this freeze is taken in coordination with the United States of America.
• A ban on all new UK outward investment into Russia. In 2020, UK investment in Russia was worth over £11 billion.
• The UK ending all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022 and taking action against oligarchs and key strategic industries.
• Action against key Russian strategic industries and state owned enterprises. This includes a ban on imports of iron and steel products.
• Urging the G7 countries to maintain the momentum on further waves of sanctions.
• Designating a further 8 oligarchs – namely:
  • Viatcheslav (Moshe) Kantor, the largest shareholder of fertilizer company Acron
  • Andrey Guryev, founder of PhosAgro
  • Sergey Kogogin, director of Kamaz
  • Sergey Sergeyevich Ivanov, President of the world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa
  • Leonid Mikhhelson, founder and CEO of Novatek
  • Andrey Akimov, the CEO of Gazprombank
  • Aleksander Dyukov, the CEO of GazpromNeft
  • Boris Borisovich Rotenberg, son of the co-owner of SGM

A briefing note from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office can be found here.