LONDON (Reuters) -Britain on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 29 individuals and entities in Russia’s gold and oil sectors, as it targets the Kremlin’s finances supporting the war in Ukraine.
Those sanctioned include a United Arab Emirates-based network which Britain said was responsible for channelling more than $300 million in gold revenues to Russia.
Britain also sanctioned two of Russia’s largest gold producers, Nord Gold Plc and Highland Gold Mining Ltd, as well as oligarchs Vladislav Sviblov and Konstantin Strukov.
“Today’s sanctions will hit those who have provided succour to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin by helping him to lessen the impact of our sanctions on Russian gold and oil – two critical sources of revenue for the Russian war machine,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
Britain sanctioned energy trading firm Paramount Energy & Commodities DMCC, saying its opaque ownership structures have been used by Russia to blunt the impact of the G7’s oil-related sanctions.
The latest sanctions are meant to block individuals and entities from helping Russia evade the impact of international sanctions, Britain said.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)
