Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: BRITAIN imposed sanctions on December 18 on more Russian oil companies and CanadianPakistani billionaire Murtaza Lakhani as part of efforts to ramp up pressure on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters. The Government targeted 24 individuals and entities, including what it described as Russia’s largest remaining unsanctioned oil companies: Tatneft, Russneft, NNK-Oil and Rusneftegaz.
The latest measures aim to make it harder for Russia to trade its oil globally. In October, Britain and the US sanctioned Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft. Earlier on in the day, the EU imposed sanctions on 41 more ships in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet that seeks to circumvent Western trading restrictions. Russia has previously dismissed Western sanctions as politically motivated. The package also included Lakhani, who was sanctioned by the European Union earlier, and his companies, which the British Government said had become some of the largest traders of Russian oil since 2022.
Lakhani, 63, began his career at global trader Glencore and runs mid-sized trading firm Mercantile & Maritime, which now faces UK sanctions. The company has offices in Singapore and London. Britain also said it was using sanctions to clamp down on Central Asian supply chains of cotton pulp, a key component in ammunition, explosives and missile fuel that it said Russia cannot produce at scale.
