UK imposes more sanctions on Russia, including vodka import

The British government on Tuesday expanded its sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, including some 350 more individuals and imposing punitive tariffs on products such as vodka and a ban on the export of luxury goods.

Seeking to increase economic pressure on the regime of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian billionaires who support him, Boris Johnson’s executive added 350 new names to the list of sanctioned individuals – 51 of whom are oligarchs and their relatives – bringing it to 935.

They include Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, as well as Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

To these are added a total of 70 companies and subsidiaries also sanctioned.

“We are going further and faster than ever in hitting those closest to Putin, from the top oligarchs, to his prime minister, and the propagandists who peddle his lies and disinformation. We hold them accountable for his complicity in Russia’s crimes in Ukraine”, said the British foreign minister, Liz Truss, announcing the new sanctions to Parliament.

These sanctions, which in recent weeks had already been applied to tycoons with Roman Abramovich -owner of the London soccer club Chelsea-, include freezing of assets, impossibility of doing business with British individuals and companies and a ban on traveling to the country.

The UK also imposed trade sanctions on Tuesday, targeting the luxury sector so prized by Russian billionaires, including a 35 percentage point hike in tariffs on products such as vodka, animal fur and metals such as silver. , aluminium, copper and steel.

For their part, British companies will not be able to export luxury products to that country, including cars, works of art and fashion, the Minister for International Trade said in a statement.

“Our new tariffs will further insulate the Russian economy from world trade, ensuring that it does not benefit from the rules-based international system that it does not respect.”, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said.

“These tariffs come on top of UK efforts to block Russia’s access to international finance, sanction Putin’s cronies and exert maximum economic pressure on his regime.”, he added.