The United Kingdom strikes the main numbers in Russian oil trade with sanctions

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The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the main personalities that they say are participating in the Russian oil trade, as it seeks to increase economic pressure on Moscow amid continuous negotiations for a peace agreement in Ukraine.

While Prime Minister Kiir Starmer described it as “the largest sanctions package ever in the United Kingdom” against oil tankers in the so -called shadow fleet, the UK targeted five traders from Azerbaijan, including Iber IP, Garraev and Ahmed Karimov.

The decision of sanctions on executives is a great escalation in the Western efforts to restrict trade in Russian oil. I have previously met the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, the companies that were allegedly involved in exporting Russian oil, but did not generally stop targeting individuals.

The wide Western sanctions system is designed against Moscow to allow Russian oil to continue the flow, but reduce the revenues collected by the Kremlin. In response, Russia has built a network of oil tankers, shipping companies and merchants to help circumvent many rules.

In its decision, the UK government said that Eyyub, Gaayev and Kerimov all participated in obtaining the benefit of the Russian government’s support by possessing or controlling it directly or indirectly, or working as director of the CORAL ERERGY (now 2Rives Group).

The United Kingdom has linked Eyyub to two other companies, Nord Axis Ltd and BX Energy, which was also imposed on Friday.

This is the first time that the authorities have publicly associated with Coral Energy, which Gaayev founded in 2010, and Nord Axis, which was among a group of merchants that originated for Russian oil circulation after President Vladimir Putin 2022 full of Ukraine.

Nord Axis was established on February 15, 2022, before the week that Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border. Five months later, in July 2022, appeared TRAFIGURA share in billions of dollars in the Russia Vostok Oil project.

The conditions of the deal were not revealed between the two companies. “Nord Axis has taken on $ 5.8 billion of” non -future bank debts “that borrowed from the Russian lenders to finance its original purchase of $ 7.3 billion per original. Trafigura refused to comment on the UK sanctions decision.

Coral had already said that she had finished her participation in Russian oil before the introduction of Western restrictions at the end of December 2022.

In 2024, Kerimov and two other executives on coral, Anar Madatli and Talaat Safarov, who were also imposed on Friday, were on the company from the original shareholder Garayev in an administrative purchase. They later renamed it as a group 2rivers. The United Kingdom performed a penalty in December 2.

In a statement to the Financial Times on behalf of 2rivers, Madley and Safarov, Kerimov said the sanctions “ignore” “the fixed record of legal behavior and our continuous cooperation with organizers to support the highest international standards.”

He said: “The sanctions in the United Kingdom imposed, first on my company, and now I personally, are a dangerous and inclined procedure that fails to recognize the major reforms that we have made.” “Since 2022, we have reduced the activity and got out of the Russian energy market, completely in line with the requirements of the G7 coalition.”

Eyyub and Gaayev cannot be accessed immediately to comment.

The UK has also imposed sanctions on dozens of oil tankers, which it said had carried more than $ 24 billion of goods since the beginning of 2024.

“Every step we take to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine is another step towards security and prosperity in the United Kingdom,” Starmer said in a statement.