Britain freezes £18bn worth of Russian assets

The British government has frozen assets worth more than £18 billion ($20.5 billion) in the coffers of Russian oligarchs, other individuals and businesses sanctioned over the invasion of Ukraine.

An agency of the UK finance ministry, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementations (OFSI) said this on Thursday adding that Russia has overtaken Libya and Iran to become Britain’s most-sanctioned nation.

The frozen Russian assets were £6 billion more than the amount reported across all other British sanctions governments, according to Reuters.

Former Chelsea Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich and businessman Mikhail Fridman are among those sanctioned this year, along with President Vladimir Putin, his family and military commanders.

The forfeited assets are a combination of shareholdings in companies and cash held in bank accounts. It does not include physical assets such as real estate, yachts or assets held in Crown Dependencies such as Guernsey and Jersey.

The government has sanctioned 95% of Russian exports to the United Kingdom and all imports of Russian oil and gas will stop by the end of the year.

“We have imposed the most severe sanctions ever on Russia and it is crippling their war machine. Our message is clear: we will not allow Putin to succeed in this brutal war,” said Andrew Griffith, a junior government minister in the Treasury in a statement.

Britain has sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals including high-profile businessmen and notable politicians and more than 120 groups in Russia.