British MPs demand action taken over blatant evasion of sanctions on Russia

LONDON: British MPs have called on govt to take action over blatant evasion of sanctions on

Russia

by companies in Europe.
UK purchases

of fuel from China, India and Turkey — much of which originates from Russian oil — have shot up since the sanctions regime began. From 2021 to 2023, purchases from India went up from £402 million (about Rs 4,255 crore) to £1.5 billion (Rs 15,875 crore), those from China rose from £30 million (Rs 317 crore) to £663 million (Rs 7,016 crore), and those from Turkey from £1.8 million (Rs 19 crore) to £60 million (Rs 634 crore).

“How do the govt explain that loophole,” SNP MP Dave Doogan asked in the House of Commons during a debate on Ukraine on Monday.
“Russian oil products are getting through to the UK despite the UK officially banning the import of Russian oil from Dec 1, 2022. A loophole in the legislation allows Russian oil to continue to flow into the UK, provided that it has been refined into fuel in a third country. What do the govt say to UK taxpayers, who are funding billions in military aid to Ukraine so that it can defend itself from a Russian aggression that is, if we follow the money, part-funded by UK purchases of fuel refined from Russian oil,” he asked.
UK businesses are seeing record growth in exports to Russia’s former Soviet state neighbours too. That manifold spike coincides precisely with the introduction of sanctions on goods to Russia, he pointed out.

“Against the backdrop of a 1,860% increase in the export of UK-manufactured vehicles to Azerbaijan, is anybody in the govt really under any illusions about what is happening there,” Doogan said.
North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones added exports from Europe through Turkey, Azerbaijan and China, are clearly not end-user destinations, and are being moved to Russia.
Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “We are bearing down on the circumvention of sanctions and this was a major focus during the foreign secretary’s recent visit to Central Asia. We are adopting new measures to target the shadow fleet that transports Russian oil.”