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Services of London consultants, auditors and PR specialists will not be available directly
Britain has imposed new sanctions on Russia, which, according to the head of the Foreign Office, Liz Truss, will put strong pressure on the Russian economy. In total, there are 63 bans in the new package.
The main ones relate to the service sector in areas such as management consulting, accounting and PR business.
In fact, a ban has been imposed on the export of a large list of services to Russia, which deprives Russian businesses of the opportunity to do business with British companies.
The government said in a statement that Britain accounts for 10% of Russian imports in these sectors.
In total, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the UK has imposed sanctions on 1,600+ individuals and legal entities from Russia.
“Cutting off Russia’s access to British services will increase pressure on the Kremlin and ultimately help lead Putin to failure in Ukraine,” Liz Truss said.
Any business with Russia helps fund Putin’s war machine, which he uses in Ukraine, she said.
“The export of our professional services is extremely valuable to many countries, which is why we exclude Russia [from the list of clients],” said UK Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy Quasi Kwarteng. “By limiting Russia’s access to our management consultants, accountants and global class, we are increasing economic pressure on the Kremlin to change course.”
“Stop spreading lies”
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Also expanded sanctions against a number of Russian government propaganda media, in particular, VGTRK.
Currently, the UK already has a law requiring social networks and Internet services to block the content of media such as Russia Today and its subsidiary Sputnik – completely controlled by the Russian state.
“For far too long RT and Sputnik have been spouting dangerous nonsense under the guise of serious news to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” UK Secretary of Technology and Digital Development Chris Philip said. “These channels have already been taken off the air in the UK and we have banned anyone from business with them. Now we have shut down their websites, social media accounts and apps to further stop the spread of their lies.”
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According to British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the main task of the West is to deprive the Kremlin of the opportunity to finance its war machine.
Under the new British restrictions, not only companies fell, but also individual employees of state television channels. This is what the sanctions list published on Wednesday looks like.
Companies and media:
- VGTRK;
- SouthFront – an English-language online publication covering events in Ukraine;
- InfoRos (Inforos) – news agency covering events in Ukraine;
- SCF (StrategicCultureFoundation) – an English-language online publication registered in Russia;
- KAMAZ is a manufacturer of trucks.
Individuals:
- Mikhail Leontiev, host of the program “However” on Channel One, vice-president of Rosneft;
- Nailya Asker-zade, presenter and author of programs at the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company;
- Yevgeny Poddubny, war correspondent of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company;
- Alexander Kots, war correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda;
- Brian McDonald, head of RT’s English editorial office, according to the British Foreign Office;
- Maxim Oreshkin, head of the board of directors of Channel One, assistant to the president for economic issues;
- Nikolai Pankov, Deputy Defense Minister;
- Dmitry Gusev, Chairman of the Board of Sovcombank;
- Mikhail Zadornov, former Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Board of Otkritie Bank;
- Alexander Shkolnik, director of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
