Sanctions have been imposed on 1,271 people – including former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and ‘Nickel King’ Vladimir Potanin, Russia’s second-richest man – according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s (OFSI) annual assessment, published on Thursday. The government said the “toughest sanctions” ever imposed resulted in the freezing of £18.39bn of assets linked to Russia, almost £6bn more than the assets held by all other sanctions regimes in United Kingdom. Andrew Griffith, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “As staunch defenders of democracy, the UK is united with its allies in opposing Russia’s barbaric and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. We have imposed the toughest sanctions ever on Russia and it is crippling its war machine. “To make sure we do everything we can to keep the pressure on Putin’s corrupt cronies, we are more than doubling the number of OFSI workers. Our message is clear: we will not allow Putin to succeed in this brutal war.” The value of frozen assets does not include real estate. If the many homes of Russian oligarchs in the UK were included, the figure would be much higher. There are 106 properties subject to sanctions restrictions, 92 of which have been added since Russia began its invasion on February 24, the Land Registry said. ‘Live in the chaos Putin has created’: a tour of properties linked to Russian oligarchs in London As well as individuals, the UK also sanctioned 120 entities and froze the assets of 19 Russian banks, which the government said had total global assets of more than £940bn. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the foreign secretary, said: “When Putin invaded Ukraine, he assumed we would sit idly by. He made a mistake. Instead, the UK and our international partners have stood shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for territorial integrity and political independence. Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Today’s report shows the scale of UK sanctions – freezing more than £18bn of Russian assets to stop Putin funding his war machine. We will continue to intensify our sanctions to put maximum economic pressure on the Russian regime until Ukraine prevails.”
