What sanctions the United Kingdom has imposed on Russia

What sanctions has the UK imposed?

Boris Johnson announced today that the UK will sanction five banks and three individuals.

The targets will be Rossiya, İşbank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea Bank. Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg are three “very wealthy” individuals who will also be punished.

“All the funds they have in the UK will be frozen,” the prime minister said. ‘The individuals concerned will be prohibited from traveling here and all individuals and legal entities of the United Kingdom will be prohibited from any contact with them.

“This is the first tranche, the first barrage of what we are ready to do, and we are ready for further sanctions, which we will apply together with the United States and the European Union if the situation escalates.”

The United Kingdom will sanction members of the Russian Duma and the Federation Council who voted to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Mr Johnson has not yet imposed a full package of UK sanctions, despite Russia invading sovereign Ukrainian territory. The areas now occupied by Russian troops, Donetsk and Lugansk, were already held by Kremlin-backed separatists.

The latest sanctions were adopted after new legislation introduced earlier this month gave ministers the power to target companies and / or individuals “doing business of economic importance to the Russian government”.

The legal instrument also gives the government the opportunity to target companies in sectors of “strategic importance”, such as energy, financial services and information technology, as well as those that support the Russian government and its ambitions in Ukraine.

When he imposed business sanctions on Russia, Mr Johnson also insisted that “there is no possibility” that football tournaments would be held in Russia because of Vladimir Putin’s current activities.

St. Petersburg is scheduled to host the UEFA Champions League final this season, but the prime minister said: “At this critical time, it is absolutely crucial that President Putin understands that what he is doing will be a disaster for Russia.”

“In the end, he will have a Russia that is poorer because of sanctions imposed by the world. A Russia that is more isolated, a Russia that has the status of a party – without the possibility of organizing football tournaments in an attacking Russia.” sovereign states. “

“Russia, which is involved in a bloody and exhausting conflict with the Soviet state. What a horrible result for President Putin. I hope he will step back from the brink and not carry out a complete invasion.”

What could be the future sanctions?

If Moscow’s invasion continues, a larger UK package could lead to further sanctions affecting major oligarchs and Russian companies based in the UK.

There are currently 31 Russian companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with a total market value of 468 billion pounds, reports S&P Global.

Many of these companies have secondary quotations in London and primary ones in Moscow.

Any Russian-related company operating in the UK will not be affected, but broad definitions suggest that most London-listed Russian companies could fall under the government’s sanctions regime.

Preventing the ability of any Russian company to raise capital in the London markets would certainly mean an intensification of the UK’s response compared to previous crises involving Russia.

Po poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia in Salisbury in 2018, the Therese May government issued similar threats regarding sanctions.

But Russian state energy empire Gazprom he made a successful bond sale in London just a few days later.

This led to ridicule from the Russian embassy, ​​which wrote on Twitter that the demand for bond sales was “three times higher than the sale [€750m]. Business as usual? “

Last week, Liz Truss, the foreign minister, insisted that this would not happen again. “I can assure you that if Russia invades Ukraine, we will target all these organizations. We will be extremely tough,” she said.

Which companies could you focus on in the future?

Energy and mining

Gazprom and Rosneft

State-backed Russian oil and gas giants have been raising capital in London markets since the 1990s, but could be cut off if Johnson continues his promise to ban them.

Gazprom has also long been a source of money for big city names such as DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters, as well as large international banks such as JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, UBS, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

Evraz

Investors are certainly concerned about possible retaliation. Shares of Eurasia, the steel and mining group FTSE 100, have fallen by a fifth in the last five days after the unbundling and investor agitation over the deepening crisis.

Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich is the company’s largest shareholder with a nearly 30% stake. The fall in stock prices means the Russian billionaire has seen more than £ 500 million wipe out his paper wealth.

The company and Mr Abramovich deny that they would either fall under the criteria for sanctions.