The authorities is finishing up 37 investigations into UK-linked companies for probably breaking Russian oil sanctions – however no fines have been handed out to this point, the BBC can reveal.
The identities of the companies are unknown however it’s understood some are more likely to be maritime insurance coverage corporations.
The Treasury stated it might take motion the place applicable, however pointed to the complexity of the instances as a motive they take appreciable time.
But Sir William Browder, a longstanding critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, stated it was an “embarrassment” that there had not been a single prosecution or effective for corporations investigated for probably breaching oil sanctions.
Financial sanctions on Russia have been launched by the UK and different Western nations following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The sanctions embody a cap on the worth of Russian oil, designed to make sure that oil can maintain flowing with out Russia making giant income.
The cap prohibits British companies from facilitating the transportation of Russian oil offered above $60 a barrel.
Sir William, who heads the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, informed the BBC the UK “was one of the most lax enforcers of these types of laws”.
He added: “The UK doesn’t do prosecutions well and I don’t know if that can be fixed overnight.
“There appears to be each a useful resource drawback and a tradition drawback with regards to prosecuting individuals for financial crimes or sanctions evasion right here.”
Critics have claimed sanctions are ineffective after the latest figures showed the Russian economy was growing.
Data obtained by the BBC using Freedom of Information laws shows the Treasury has opened investigations into 52 companies with a connection to the UK suspected of breaching the price cap since December 2022.
As of August, 37 of those investigations were live and 15 had concluded, but no fines had been handed out.
Louis Wilson, the head of fossil fuel investigations at anti-corruption organisation Global Witness said it was “quite astonishing” that no fines have yet been handed out.
He described the oil cap as a “a sort of paper tiger” that is failing to crack down on rule breaking.
If the UK government “prevents British businesses from enabling Putin’s profiteering, then I think you’ll start to see others following that lead,” he added.
Investigations into potential breaches of the oil cap and other financial sanctions are carried out by a Treasury unit called the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
OFSI received an extra £50m of funding in March to improve enforcement of the UK’s sanctions regime
But Mr Wilson said companies under investigation find it “pretty easy to come by” a document that gets them out of trouble.
He described the documents as “basically promises, voluntary bits of paper” and said they can be easily obtained even if the company was involved in transporting oil sold above the price cap.
“What’s likely is either these businesses will find the paperwork that they need to get through this process, or we’ll see the UK government drop these cases quietly,” he said.
He claimed the US were reluctant to make the Western sanctions regimes harder “because they’re scared that if they do enforce the rules it will stop the Russian oil trade and that will send oil prices higher”.
Conservative shadow foreign office minister Dame Harriett Baldwin said sanctions were designed to “shut down the sources of finance for Russia’s war machine” and “bring this illegal invasion to an end sooner”.
She stated “there is probably more that could be done” by the federal government and the oil sector itself “because it does appear that UK importers are still bringing in oil that originated in Russia”.
It is important that when OFSI “find deliberate wrongdoing they are exacting financial penalties,” she added.
A spokesperson for the Treasury stated it might take enforcement motion “where appropriate” and it was “putting sanction breachers on notice”.
They added that the cap was lowering Russia’s tax revenues from oil, including that information from the nation’s personal finance ministry confirmed a 30% drop final 12 months in comparison with 2022.
The former chair of Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia in February.
Dame Harriett stated she “received evidence that the oil price cap is being evaded by refining Russian oil in refineries based in third countries and then the oil is being exported into the UK.”
Earlier this 12 months the BBC reported on claims about how a lot oil this so-called “loophole” is permitting into the UK.
But parliamentary committees are disbanded as soon as an election is known as and the findings of the Treasury committee inquiry have been by no means printed.
It is known no choice has but been made as as to whether the brand new Treasury Select Committee will recommence the work.
OFSI issued its first Russia-related penalty final month, when it fined a concierge firm £15,000 for having a sanctioned particular person on its consumer record.
London-based agency Integral Concierge Services was discovered to have made or obtained 26 funds that concerned an individual whose belongings have been frozen as a part of the Russia sanctions.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y97k4w7llo