Further to our earlier post regarding the prosecution for exporting 135 trucks and 29 trailers from Finland to Russia, it is being reported that the criminal trial has started this week in Helsinki.
The prosecution are seeking a four year jail term for the individual and a fine for the company involved.
It is alleged that in 2022 and 2023 the vehicles were declared as bound for Kazakhstan and Türkiye and only transiting via Russia, but were actually exported to Russia.
The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has issued a Penalty Notice against Sabre Global Technologies Limited (SGTL) imposing a fine of just over £1m against this UK entity.
SGTL continued to provide services to JSC Ural Airlines after that entity was designated in May 2022 and after the fact of the designation was communicated to SGTL by its lawyers on the same day.
Three payments were made to SGTL by JSC Ural Airlines between June and September 2022 totalling $906,576.30. These payments were blocked by SGTL’s bank.
In October 2022 SGTL self-disclosed the breaches to OFSI.
The Penalty Notice identified the following breaches:
These breaches, especially the continued offering of SGTL’s product, were assessed as having a value of £2,634,001.54.
OFSI assessed the breaches as being in the “most serious” category given the value, the duration and the efforts at circumvention. The fine was assessed at the maximum of 50% of the value, and then the company obtained a 20% discount to reflect self-disclosure.
The Penalty Notice makes several other “Notes on Compliance”:
Further to our earlier post on the UK’s seizure of the Smyrtos oil tanker, the UK’s National Crime Agency has announced that Indian national Ajay Pant, has been charged with “directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil / oil products from Russia to a third country during the period of June 2026 in contravention of Reg 46Z9B“.
The National Crime Agency’s press release does not state the basis for the UK’s criminal jurisdiction, but the UK’s sanctions regulations apply to actions in the UK’s “territorial sea”, which is elsewhere defined as being the breadth of 12 nautical miles from the UK.
A lengthy article in the Belarusian Investigative Center on alleged sanctions circumvention regarding Belarusian wood pellets, includes data obtained from the Polish Prosecutor’s office on sanctions enforcement:
On Sunday British armed forces boarded and detained the “shadow fleet” oil tanker Smyrtos.
While British forces have assisted other nations previously, this is the first time that the UK has detained a shadow fleet vessel.
The vessel was in international waters in the English Channel, and the press release refers to UNCLOS Article 110 as giving a power to exercise “a right of visit” where there are reasonable grounds to suspect the vessel is without nationality”.
The vessel is now anchored off the south coast of England.
BBC reporting notes that the vessel claims a Cameroon flag, and that it has changed its flag multiple times since it was designated by the UK in July 2025. The same reporting has added that a 38-year old Indian national has been arrested on suspicion of offences under the UK’s Russian sanctions.
Lloyd’s List, is reporting that Cameroon had previously expelled the Smyrtos from its registry.
Our European Vessel Seizure Tracker has been updated.
Reuters is reporting that three individuals have today been convicted of Russian sanctions offences.
The offending involved the shipment of goods for the Russian defence sector via third countries including Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. The goods are described as “sanctioned goods, including rare earths, an explosive detector and a defence-related machine”.
The first defendant, named in the reporting as Victor Labin, was given an €80,000 fine and a five year prison sentence, with one year of that suspended.
The second defendant, reported to be Ruslan Labin, and tried in absentia was sentenced to six years in jail and an €8,000 fine.
The third defendant, named only as P.I., was given a three year sentence, suspended for five years, and an €8,000 fine.
HM Revenue and Customs has issued a press release relating to yesterday’s conviction of David Greenhalgh and Christos Farmakis on multiple counts (nine and ten respectively) of unlawful exports of military hardware in breach of UK sanctions and arms embargos under the Export Control Order 2008.
Mr Farmakis was tried in absentia with HMRC stating that he is thought to currently be in Greece and that HMRC is “working with international partners to bring him to the UK to face justice”.
Sentencing is due to take place in July, with the judge reported as saying that Mr Greenhalgh should expect a lengthy custodial sentence.
The unlicensed sales and exports were to Sudan, South Sudan and Libya between 2009 and 2016 and were largely of ex-Soviet equipment including “ex-Soviet jets, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-tank missiles, thousands of assault rifles and other controlled goods”.
The transactions were conducted through Mr Greenhalgh’s companies and involved circuitous transport routes as well as faked end-user certificates.
Poland’s National Tax Administration has issued a press release confirming the imposition of a PLN 20,000,000 (c. €4.7m) fine on an unnamed entrepreneur.
This is separate from another fine of the same amount that was imposed in April on a company for luxury car exports.
The entrepreneur exported 177 cars and one motorbike between January and June 2023 each valued at over €50,000 in breach of the EU’s prohibition against the export of luxury goods to Russia with a total value of over €19m.
My thanks to Dr Marcin Lukowski for pointing me to the announcement.
Poland’s ABW (Agency for Internal Security) has issued a press release related to the charging of two individuals, Eduard K. and Krzysztof J., on suspicion of exporting dual use goods to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The equipment was a CNC machine tool and a thermal chamber for metalworking. The equipment was purchased in Germany and transported to Poland before being shipped to Turkey for further export into Russia.
The goods were stopped from being exported and the two suspects have been detained since September last year.
The press release notes the availability of a sentence of not less than three years as well as confiscations.
It is being reported that Dutch Customs have launched a major investigation includes raids on premises in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, searches on board a container vessel and the arrest and detention of the captain.
The vessel in question routinely sails between St Petersburg and Rotterdam. Dozens of containers on board the vessel have been found with goods suspected of breaching the EU’s sanctions. The containers are said to show signs of attempts to conceal the contents.
Of the goods identified, the containers carried large quantities of car parts which can be used in passenger vehicles as well as trucks. Also found was motor oil.
The same report also indicates that the investigations continue into: i) a company suspected of sanctioned imports of timber (see our earlier post), with the report noting that trial is anticipated in 2027); and ii) the company suspected of supplying goods and services to shadow fleet vessels (see our earlier post).
