Yahoo Finance UK shuts out Russian companies from insurance market
The UK has imposed fresh new sanctions blocking Russian companies in the aviation and space industry from buying insurance and reinsurance services.
The move will block Russian companies operating in those sectors from the UK’s insurance market. London is a key global centre for aviation and space cover, with companies from around the world using Lloyd’s of London and other insurance providers for commercial insurance and reinsurance.
Read more: Ukraine war to push up global inflation by 3%
“In taking such action, the UK is demonstrating its commitment to apply severe economic sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the UK Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.
“Further details of the legislation will be available in due course.”
It added: “Coupled with similar actions by the EU, this move further isolates Russia’s economy from the international financial system.”
The UK, the US and the European Union have all hit Russia with a wide range of sanctions.
Asset freezes, travel bans and other restrictions on Russian oligarchs have been imposed as the west seeks to cripple Moscow’s economy to the point where Vladimir Putin is forced to stop the war in Ukraine.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday told a French radio station that the aim of the latest round of sanctions was to “cause the collapse of the Russian economy.”
Read more: What Ukraine invasion means for consumer prices in the UK
It is also seeking to introduce legislation to limit deposits that Russian nationals can hold in UK bank accounts, with the limit expected to be £50,000 ($66,945).
Key Russian banks have been barred from the SWIFT international payments system, preventing them from secure international communication and ostracising them from much of the global financial system.
In the latest crackdown on Moscow, US president Joe Biden announced that Russian flights would be banned from US airspace, following similar decisions by the EU and Canada.
