Awareness of the sanctions regime

The UK has, along with global allies, imposed significant sanctions on Russian institutions and individuals with links to the Russian government.

The sanctions regime is aimed at encouraging Russia to cease actions destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.

The sanctions mean UK people – including organisations with a legal personality such as SCIOs or charitable companies – must limit their interactions with organisations or individuals on the UK sanctions list.

If your charity has financial interactions with Russian organisations or individuals you should remain aware of changes to the sanction regime as organisations or individuals are added or removed from the sanction list.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation have produced guidance for the charity sector. Please note that the guidance states that if a charity breaches the sanction regime they should report a ‘Serious Incident’ to the Charity Commission; Scottish charities should, instead, report a notifiable event to OSCR.

If you have any queries or concerns about the sanctions regime, you should contact the Department for International Trade’s export support team. There is a dedicated hotline for questions about the Russian sanctions regime (0300 303 8955) or you can complete the dedicated online query form available here.

Alternatively you should seek your own independent legal advice.