Russian companies sold oil, yachts and coal from occupied territories of Ukraine, bypassing sanctions

One of the yachts is linked to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who allegedly bought it for $4.4 million in 2024.

This is stated in the report of Transparency International Russia.

Thus, since February 2022, Russian businesses registered in the overseas territories of the United Kingdom have transferred more than $8 billion to the Russian Federation. The companies used trade through the islands of the United Kingdom due to limited control of business registrations and lack of access to the ownership structure of companies.

The author of the report, Vlad Netyaev, noted that the lack of transparency makes the overseas territories of the United Kingdom a convenient tool for circumventing sanctions and hiding assets.

Intermediary companies (registered mainly in the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar) helped to complicate the verification of trade and hide supplies. After registration, the businesses were officially listed as non-Russian, or without the ability to identify their origin – because of this, trade with other countries was not affected by sanctions.

These are 29 thousand trade deals through offshore companies, thanks to which Russian businesses sold oil and equipment for its production, yachts, helicopters, airplanes and coal from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

One of the yachts is associated with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who allegedly bought it for $4.4 million in 2024.

Transparency analysts also said that companies of the family of ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych sold coal from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Turkey. The proceeds from the sales went to companies in the British Isles.

USM previously reported that more than 500 tankers of the “shadow fleet” supply Russian oil to circumvent sanctions.