Russia Sanctions Tracker - UK (2026)

19 March 2026

General licence: Kazakh Oil Exports (Transneft)

INT/2026/9247168

Publication Notice

The General Licence permits activity, including but not limited to payments, involving PJSC Transneft and any subsidiary in relation to the supply, purchase, transportation or delivery of crude oil falling within commodity code 2709 which originates in Kazakhstan ("Kazakh Oil"), provided that:

• the Kazakh Oil is not owned by a person connected with Russia; and
• the Kazakh Oil is only being loaded in, departing from or transiting through Russia.

The General Licence also permits UK financial institutions to process payments in connection with the above.

This licence takes effect from 19 March 2026 and expires at 23:59 on 18 March 2028

17 March 2026

Asset freeze: removal

One individual has been removed from the UK Sanctions List and is no longer subject to an asset freeze, trust services and other sanctions:

• German Valentinovich Belous

13 March 2026

OFSI Licensing: Reasonableness in licensing – updated approach

OFSI has today published a blogpost, Reasonableness in licensing – updated approach. It provides more clarity on the evidence OFSI requires to support licence applications under the legal services and routine holding and maintenance licensing grounds, helping applicants to submit complete, well evidenced applications.

The blogpost should be read alongside OFSI’s earlier blogpost, Reasonableness in licensing.

10 March 2026

Sanctions enforcement: UK Government strategy

The UK Government has published an overview of its approach to enforcing breaches of UK sanctions. This follows the cross-government review of sanctions implementation and enforcement, which concluded that "a cross-government strategy on enforcement will assist industry to understand the range of non-compliance and possible enforcement consequences".

The document sets out key enforcement principles, emphasises the importance of strong compliance and outlines the potential consequences of non-compliance. It also summarises the roles of key government departments, regulators and enforcement bodies.

2 March 2026

Asset freeze: removal

One individual has been removed from the UK Sanctions List and is no longer subject to an asset freeze, trust services and other sanctions:

• John Michael Ormerod

25 February 2026

General Licence: Continuation of Business of Lukoil International Entities

INT/2025/8031092

The General Licence has been amended to extend the expiry date to 25 August 2026.

OFSI's FAQ 174 was also amended to reflect this amendment.

24 February 2026

Asset freeze: additions

Press release

7 individuals and 240 entities have been added to the to the UK Sanctions List and are now subject to an asset freeze and trust service sanctions. The designations include:

• PJSC Transneft, which handles more than 80 per cent of Russia's oil exports;
• 175 companies forming part of the '2Rivers' oil network - one of the largest shadow fleet operators globally and a major trader of Russian crude oil;
• 49 entities and individuals supporting Russia's military effort, including a number of international entities;
• 3 civil nuclear energy companies and 2 individuals seeking overseas contracts for new Russian nuclear facilities;
• 6 targets within Russia's LNG sector, including ships (see entry below), traders and Russia’s Portovaya and Vysotsk terminals responsible for exporting Russian LNG, and
• 9 Russian financial institutions involved in processing international payments: Avers Bank, Bank Tochka; Post Bank (aka Pochta Bank or Leto Bank); Lanta-Bank; Sinara Bank; Transcapitalbank / Bank TKB; Absolut Bank; AK BARS Bank; and Fora Bank.

This package of sanctions marks four years from the start of the war and is the largest since the early months of the invasion in 2022.

Shipping specifications – additions

Press release

50 vessels have been specified under the Russia sanctions regime, comprising 48 oil tankers involved in transporting Russian oil and a number of LNG tankers.

(Access the list here or search the UK sanctions list for 'ships' designated on 24 February 2026).

General Licence: Russian Oil Exempt Projects – amendment

INT/2025/5635700

The General Licence was amended to include any entity owned or controlled (whether directly or indirectly) by PJSC LUKOIL Oil Company, PJSC Rosneft Oil Company or PJSC Transneft.

Druzhba Pipeline was also added to the list of exempt projects at Schedule 1, with an expiration date of 14 October 2027.

General Licence: Maritime Mutual Re-Insurance Wind Down

INT/2026/8893924

OFSI has issued a General Licence allowing a UK Insurer and/or a UK Insurance Broker to transmit funds or economic resources to or from Maritime Mutual Association Limited, Maritime Mutual Insurance Association (NZ) Limited and their subsidiaries (following their designation on 24 February 2026):

• where they are obligated to do so under insurance or reinsurance contracts agreed in writing prior to 24 February 2026; or
• in order to cancel and/or terminate and/or extricate themselves from any insurance or reinsurance contracts agreed in writing prior to 24 February 2026.

A UK Insurer, UK Insurance Broker, Relevant UK Institution and/or a person may carry out any activity reasonably necessary for the purposes of the above, including the processing of payments by a Relevant UK Institution.

The GL is subject to a record-keeping requirement.

The licence takes effect from 24 February 2026 and expires on 9 April 2026.

General Licence: PJSC Transneft Wind Down

INT/2026/8889196

OFSI has issued a General Licence allowing a person to wind down or divest from any transactions it is party to that involve PJSC Transneft (or one of its subsidiaries), including the closing out of any positions.

The GL is subject to a record-keeping requirement.

This licence takes effect from 24 February 2026 and expires on 9 April 2026.

23 February 2026

General Licence: Funds of non-designated third parties involving designated credit or financial institutions - amendment

INT/2024/4761108

The General Licence concerning the use of retail banking services of a designated credit or financial institution was amended to:

• extend the date of expiry from 21 May 2026 to 23 February 2028; and
• increase the permitted total cumulative value of payments processed from £50,000 to £55,000.

Following its consultation, OFSI has published updated enforcement guidance. This guidance comes into effect from 9 February 2026.

The guidance includes minor updates to a number of chapters, and the significant updates and additions below:

Early Account Scheme, Settlements & Financial Hardship

• Chapter 4 – Early Account Scheme (EAS): Introduction of a new EAS (with a penalty discount of up to 20%), enabling subjects to provide an early factual account of a breach in eligible cases. This section sets out clear eligibility criteria, a step-by-step process, and the information OFSI expects to receive.
• Chapter 6 – Settlement Scheme: Introduction of a new Settlement Scheme (with a penalty discount of 20%). This section sets out how the scheme operates in practice and how it can apply to existing cases.
• Chapter 7 – Financial Hardship: New policy explaining how OFSI will consider exceptional claims of financial hardship, including the burden on the subject to evidence hardship and OFSI’s ability to consider public interest factors.

Enforcement Case Assessment & Discounts

• Chapter 5 – Updated Case Factors: Several case factors have been updated, added, removed or renamed to provide clearer and more consistent assessments.
• Chapter 5 – Four Level Seriousness Model: Replacement of the previous framework with a new four-tiered seriousness model (Levels 1–4), each with indicative outcomes ranging from warning letters to monetary penalties.
• Chapter 6 – Voluntary Disclosure & Cooperation Discount: Introduction of a single penalty discount (up to 30%) for complete voluntary disclosure and co-operation, supported by expanded guidance clarifying what OFSI considers complete and timely cooperation.

Information, Reporting & Licensing Offences

• Chapter 13 – Fixed Monetary Penalties: New section detailing how £5,000 and £10,000 fixed penalties will be applied for relevant offences, including the assessment process, penalty determination, and examples of applicable conduct. This section also expands on OFSI’s interpretation of information offences.

One individual has been removed from the Russia financial sanctions regime and is no longer subject to an asset freeze, trust service and other sanctions:

• Alexey Valeryevich Panferov

General Licence: Humanitarian activity – amendment

INT/2022/1947936

Annex I of the General Licence, which sets out Designated Financial Institutions, was amended to remove Bank FC Otkritie and replace it with BM-Bank, reflecting their merger.

OFSI's FAQs 147-148 were amended accordingly.

General Licence: Payments by Revenue Authorities – amendments

INT/2025/7328184

The General Licence was amended to update the definition of “Revenue Authority” to include the Welsh Revenue Authority and Revenue Scotland.

29 January 2026

OFSI Enforcement Consultation:

Response

OFSI blog post

OFSI has published its response to its public consultation on enforcement. This sets out improvements to make sanctions enforcement more transparent and predictable. These changes are designed to support compliance, give firms greater certainty and help this government apply sanctions in a fair, effective and robust way.

The changes include:

• Improve transparency for industry with a new case assessment matrix and updated guidance to make enforcement decisions clearer and more predictable.
• Enable OFSI to resolve cases more efficiently by introducing settlement and Early Account schemes which will give suitable cases quicker routes to resolution.
• Streamline process for lower-level breaches with set penalties for appropriate information, reporting and licensing offences.
• Strengthen deterrence for serious breaches with plans to double OFSI’s maximum civil penalties, subject to legislation.

28 January 2026

UK Sanctions List: Closure of OFSI Consolidated List and move to a single UK Sanctions List

OFSI's Consolidated List of Asset Freeze Targets has closed and is no longer being updated. The UK Sanctions List is now the only source for all UK sanctions designations.

The Russia list of designations and sanctions notices will also be published on this webpage.

26 January 2026

OFSI announced that on 10 November 2025 it imposed a monetary penalty of £160,000 to a UK banking institution.

The penalty relates to 24 payments processed by the institution, totalling £77,383.39, to a personal account of an individual designated under the Russian financial sanctions regime.

On 23 February 2026, OFSI published a blog post on this enforcement action.

Russian oil: price cap lowered
Joint guidance published by OFSI and HM Treasury

On 15 January 2026, OFSI announced that the Russian oil price cap will be lowered from $47.60 to $44.10 per barrel, effective 23:01 (GMT) 31 January 2026. OFSI has updated the FAQs 154-161 to reflect these changes.

General Trade Licence: Financial Services and Funds related to Fertilisers

The existing 'General trade licence Russia sanctions – financial services and funds related to fertilisers' has been revoked and a new one granted.

The general licence permits the provision of financial services and making funds available to a person connected with Russia for the supply or delivery of specified fertiliser goods either from Russia to a third country, or from Russia to a person in a third country, where they are intended for agricultural use only.