UK comes to key figures in Russian oil trade with sanctions

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The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on key figures that are involved in Russian oil trade, as it seeks to increase economic pressure on Moscow amid the ongoing negotiations for a peace agreement in Ukraine.

In what Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as the “largest sanction of sanctions in the United Kingdom” against the oil trucks of the so -called Russian shadow fleet, the United Kingdom also directed five Azerbaijan merchants, including Etibar Eyyub, Tahir Garayev and Ahmed Kerimov.

The decision to sanction executives is a significant escalation in the West’s efforts to restrict Russian oil trade. The United Kingdom, the United States and the EU have previously sanctioned companies that are involved in the export of Russian oil, but have generally stopped to go to people.

The wide western sanction regime against Moscow was designed to allow Russian oil to continue to loose, but to reduce the revenue raised by the Kremlin. In response, Russia built a network of oil trucks, shipping companies and merchants to help prevent many of the rules.

Eyyub, Garayev and Kerimov had “involved in obtaining a benefit to support the Russian government in possessing or controlling, directly or indirectly, or working as director of Coral Energy (currently group 2Rivers),” said the United Kingdom government in his decision.

The United Kingdom linked Eyyub to two additional companies, north Axis LTD and BX Energy, which also sanctioned on Friday.

It is the first time that authorities have publicly linked to Eyyub with Coral Energy, founded by Garayev in 2010, and north Axis, who was among a group of merchants who arose in Russian oil trade after the full -scale invasion of President Vladimir Putin.

North Axis joined February 15, 2022, the week before Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border. Five months later, in July 2022, it arose as The buyer of the Business Participation of Trabigura in the Giant Vostok Petroleum project of Russia.

The terms of the agreement between the two private companies were not spread. Trabigura said that at the time North Axis had assumed $ 5.8 million of “bank debt without a resource” he had lent to Russian lenders to fund his original $ 7.3 million purchase from the asset. Trabigura refused to comment on the UK’s decision of sanctions.

Coral had previously said that he ended his participation in Russian oil before the introduction of Western restrictions in late December 2022.

In 2024, Kerimov and two other coral executives, Madatli and Talat Safarov, who were also sanctioned on Friday, acquired the company of the original shareholder Garayev in a management purchase. Later they received it as a 2nd group. The United Kingdom sanctioned 2nd in December.

In a statement to the financial times in the name of the 2nd, Madatli and Safarov, Kerimov said that the sanctions “ignored” the “proven” lawful conduct registration and our continuous collaboration with regulators to maintain the highest international standards. “

“The sanctions of the United Kingdom imposed, first in my company and now personally, are a serious and unfair action that does not recognize the substantial reforms we have made,” he said. “Since 2022, we have reduced the activity and left the Russian energy market, aligning fully with the requirements of the G7 price coalition.”

Eyyub and Garayev were not immediately comments.

The United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on dozens of oil trucks, which said that they had brought more than $ 24 million from the beginning of 2024.

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