Sanctions United Kingdom to Russia

Main Sanctions

1. Russian airline Aeroflot is banned from landing in the UK;
2. Russian state and private companies are banned from raising finance from raising finance on the UK financial markets
3. Assets freezing of all Russian banks, including VTB, one of the largest Russian banks;
4. Removal of some Russian banks (including VTB and Sberbank) from the SWIFT international transaction system;
5. Limitations on the amount of money that can be deposited into UK accounts;
6. End of exports to Russia of a range of high-tech equipment in sectors such as telecommunications or aerospace;
7. Assets freezing and entry ban to the UK for over 100 Russian companies and oligarchs;
8. Creation of “Cell against Kleptocracy” to identify sanctions’ evasion and Russian assets hidden in the UK

Impacts 

Aviation and Tourism

Vladimir Putin responded to the exclusion of Russian airline Aeroflot from the United Kingdom with a ban on all British airlines from landing in and crossing Russian airspace. Thus, there was a sharp decrease in the number of flights between the two countries, leading to the cancellation of dozens of trips planned for the coming weeks.

On the other hand, British airlines’ flights to Asia will take an average of 90 minutes longer and have a higher fuel expenditure because they have to deviate from Russian airspace.

The British government is advising its citizens not to travel to Russia, and in the opposite direction, with an increased control of Russian citizen’s entry into the United Kingdom and a lower visa issue, in addition to the ban on the entry of various Russian elites, is expected a significant drop in tourism between Russia and the United Kingdom.

Energy

The UK has a small dependence on natural gas from Russia, around 4% of the national total. However, BP, one of the main British oil&gas companies, with operations in the North Sea and a large stake in the Russian oil company Rosneft, saw its shares fall by more than 4% and may suffer from the Russian Government’s retaliation to British sanctions.

In domestic consumption, and due to the generalised increase in the price of gas and electricity, UK citizens could have an increase of up to 600 pounds in their annual energy bill.

Banking and Finance

The UK was one of the main centres of Russian investment in Europe, with numbers £25 billion. The assets freezing of all Russian banks present in the UK will lead to a fall in investment and cash flow between the two countries.

The participation of Russian oligarchs in British companies will also be conditioned by the current sanctions.

In a generalised perspective, we may see an even greater increase in inflation, which will determine a growth in prices in the various sectors of activity.