If you are doing business in Russia and having to assess how the sanctions imposed following the war on Ukraine may impact your business and whether you can continue to work with your customers/suppliers, the following may help.
UK Government guidance is here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/russia-sanctions-guidance/russia-sanctions-guidance
In short, currently you’re not prevented from carrying on business with your Russian customers/suppliers provided they are NOT on the sanctioned entity list (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list) AND their products/ services are NOT being sent/provided/connected with/for use of the Russian military or infrastructure (oil and gas) related.
The current position in the EU is similar – see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022D0335&qid=1646130637968 and https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022D0266&qid=1646130368583.
And the US sanctions list is here https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov.
However, whilst you may not be strictly required to stop your business activity, you should consider if it’s sensible and the right thing to do alongside reviewing any PR or reputational risk. Public sentiment is heavily against doing business with Russia so we recommend assessing any activity carefully. Many sectors are also ahead of UK / US / EU government action so you should keep abreast of market sentiment/ activity in your sector as well.
If you do continue with your business activities, you should also check that customers are able to pay/you can pay suppliers. The list of banned Russian banks is being expanded almost daily so keep checking these regularly.
**Updates are posted almost daily so we suggest that you check these websites regularly**
If you want to discuss any of the above or practical steps to take, please get in touch on info@legaledge.co.uk.
