A new UK parliamentary inquiry will assess whether British sanctions targeting the shipping sector are stemming Russian oil revenues.
The influential House of Commons treasury committee has called for evidence on topics including the effectiveness of the oil price cap and whether sanctions need to be extended across the oil and gas sector.
The committee will examine the work of the UK sanctions regulator, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (Ofsi), and assess the quality of its guidance to industry and the impact on both the insurance and shipping sectors.
The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin, lists a series of seven questions for answering by respondents by 28 March under the heading: “Are the UK’s Russian financial sanctions working?”
In 2022, British MPs criticised Ofsi’s performance, warning that the UK’s tough stance against Moscow risked being undermined by a failure to enforce sanctions breaches.
The group has been under pressure to show results after a recruitment drive at the beginning of the Ukraine invasion. While the largest in Europe, Ofsi is dwarfed by the size and actions taken by its US equivalent, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac).
In December, Ofsi blacklisted four United Arab Emirates-based shipping companies including Sovcomflot-linked unit Oil Tankers (SCF) Management and three others known to have bought tankers on the secondhand market since the invasion.
In the latest round of sanctions last week, the UK targeted the Dubai unit of Swiss-headquartered Fractal Shipping and two Turkish companies, Beks Ship Management and Active Denizcilik, which operate a combined total of about 65 tankers.
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