UK Adds More Russian, Belarusian Banks To Sanctions List

(March 24, 2022, 2:44 PM GMT) -- The government slapped sanctions on more Russian and Belarusian banks and companies on Thursday, as well as individuals with ties to President Vladimir Putin, as the West aims to intensify economic pressure with the Ukraine war entering its second month.

HM Treasury said that it has frozen the assets of another 59 oligarchs and companies from Russia. The entities include the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank, and Alfa-Bank JSC and Gazprombank, which are privately owned.

The ministry added that it has sanctioned Bank Dabrabyt JSC of Belarus, which is located in Minsk and was formerly known as the Moscow-Minsk Bank. 

The Treasury has also sanctioned five other Belarusian entities, including financial leasing company CJSC Belbizneslizing and real estate firm Limited Liability Company Belinvest-Engineering. Both are owned by Belinvestbank.

The Treasury said that British businesses must check whether they have any accounts with the sanctioned companies and individuals and freeze these.

"Failure to comply with financial sanctions legislation or to seek to circumvent its provisions is a criminal offense," the Treasury warned.

The 65 join a growing list of Russian and Belarusian citizens, banks and companies that have been sanctioned by Britain, as it seeks to cut off the countries' financial institutions from funding sources in Western financial markets. 

The measures include a full asset freeze on VTB Bank, whose U.K. subsidiary has been dropped from London stock exchange listings. Britain has also ordered that the assets of Chelsea Football Club's owner, Roman Abramovich, should be frozen.

Other U.K. sanctions include preventing Russian state and private companies from raising money in Britain through securities and loans. They also limit the amount of money that Russian nationals will be able to deposit in U.K. bank accounts.

British investors have been dropping their Russian securities holdings as sanctions piled up since Moscow invaded Ukraine. Britain has given investors until May 2 to dump their derivatives and securities repurchase agreements issued by Russian government institutions.

--Editing by Joe Millis.

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