Oligarchs’ aircraft and ships targeted through new legal powers
New UK government legislation prohibits maintenance on aircraft or ships belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarchs or their businesses.
- UK puts in place new legal powers to prevent Russian oligarch access to UK aviation and maritime technical services
- sanctions strengthened on oligarchs Eugene Shvidler and Oleg Tinkov
- sanctions imposed in relation to Crimea will be extended to non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions
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 Liz Truss 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 Grant Shapps 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.
View the full UK sanctions list.
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.
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