PLC 4ever
Related Articles
New sanctions against Moscow aim to prevent Russia from using foreign reserves to mitigate the economic impact international action is causing.
Additional economic measures introduced by the Foreign Secretary ban British individuals and corporations from providing financial services to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, as well as the Treasury and the National Wealth Fund.
Liz Truss said the decision was aimed at “weakening Russia’s economy” as the West seeks to inflict financial misery on the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Foreign Office said Britain has been working in close partnership with the United States and the European Union on sanctions introduced on Tuesday aimed at preventing Russia’s central bank from using its foreign exchange reserves “in a way that enables it to do so to reduce the financial impact”.
It comes just a day after Russia’s central bank was forced to sharply raise its key interest rate in a desperate attempt to shore up the falling ruble and stem the bank run after being hit by a series of crippling Western sanctions.
The bank raised the key interest rate from 9.5% to 20%.
As part of Tuesday’s sanctions, Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, which accounts for 35% of the financial sector, was banned from processing sterling payments through the UK financial system.
The UK has already imposed sanctions on Russia’s second largest bank, VTB, and eight other financial institutions.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) – the country’s sovereign wealth fund – and its chief executive, Kirill Dmitriev, were also sanctioned, with their assets frozen and a travel ban imposed on Mr Dmitriev.
RDIF funds projects of strategic importance to Russia, the Foreign Office said.
Officials said the sanction will deter British individuals or companies from dealing with RDIF.
The foreign minister said: “We have said that Putin and his entourage would pay the price for their unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we stand by our word.”
Ms Truss said the new punitive sanctions “will weaken Russia’s economy and help Putin lose”.
She added: “We stand by Ukraine, her people and her democracy and will continue to support her diplomatically, economically, politically and defensively.”
The UK had already blocked customers of all Russian banks from accessing domestic services.
This move aimed to block three million Russian companies from accessing foreign investment from the UK.
