Breach: ‘making available’ goods offence under the Russia sanctions
Date of settlement: May 2025
Amount of settlement: £1,160,725.67
Notice: Notice to Exporters: NTE 2025/18
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concluded a compound settlement in relation to a UK exporter that made goods available to Russia in breach of The Russia (Sanctions)(EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The compound settlement involved a penalty of £1,160,725.67, which was paid to HMRC in May 2025.
Key compliance lessons
Risk of exporting to ‘third countries’
Russian companies (companies incorporated in Russia) operate in third countries.
Sanctions on making goods available to persons connected to Russia can be breached by UK companies exporting sanctioned goods to Russian companies that are operating in third countries.
UK companies exporting sanctioned goods to Central Asia and other regions where Russian companies have branches and operations should check whether the consignee, end-user or any other party receiving or taking control of the goods is a Russian-owned company.
Risk of being uninformed
Ignorance of sanctions is not an excuse.
When new trade sanctions are introduced, types of trade that were previously allowed become prohibited. Ignorance of sanctions is not an excuse. To avoid unwittingly breaching sanctions, companies should sign up to get UK sanctions email alerts to be informed of new sanctions measures before they take effect.
Businesses should review their trading relationships in light of new sanctions and seek professional legal advice on current and prospective trade if they are unsure whether it complies with sanctions.
Meaning of ‘connected with Russia’ in the regulations
Within the Russia regulations there are prohibitions on making certain goods, technology or software available directly or indirectly for use in Russia or to ‘a person connected with Russia’. The regulations set out when a person is to be regarded as ‘connected with’ Russia as:
- an individual who is, or an association or combination of individuals who are, ordinarily resident in Russia
- an individual who is, or an association or combination of individuals who are, located in Russia
- a person, other than an individual, which is incorporated or constituted under the law of Russia, or
- a person, other than an individual, which is domiciled in Russia
The key point to note in this context is that this definition includes Russian incorporated companies operating anywhere in the world.
Scope of the ‘making available’ prohibition in the regulations
The following regulations prohibit making sanctioned goods, technology and software available for use in Russia or to a ‘person connected with Russia’ in:
- Regulation 25 (relating to restricted good and technology)
- Regulation 42 (relating to energy-related goods and technology)
- Regulation 46B (relating to luxury goods)
- Regulation 46L (relating to banknotes)
- Regulation 46N (relating to jet fuel and fuel additives)
- Regulation 46Y (relating to G7 dependency and further goods and technology)
- Regulation 46Z30 (relating to Russia’s vulnerable goods and technology)
- Regulation 46Z34 (relating to sectoral software and technology)
Regulation 30D prohibits making restricted goods and technology available for use in non-government controlled Ukrainian territory or to a ‘person connected with non-government controlled Ukrainian territory’.
Regulation 50 prohibits making infrastructure-related goods available including directly or indirectly making them available for use in non-government controlled Ukrainian territory or to a ‘person connected with non-government controlled Ukrainian territory’.
