Further to our earlier post, mid trial two brothers have pleaded guilty to breaching the EU Russian sanctions as part of an agreement with the prosecution.
They were accused of shipping 65 consignments of engineering and industrial equipment to Russia valued at €830,000 between 2023 and 2024.
As part of the agreement both men have accepted that they face 4 year custodial sentences. The verdict of the court is awaited.
The father of the two men is being separately prosecuted.
Further to our earlier posts (here, and here, and here), Risto Riihimäki has been convicted of aggravated sanctions breaches for his role in the export of 135 trucks to Russian in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The trucks were declared to be transiting through Russia, but that was actually their final destination.
Mr Riihimäki was the CEO of the company Idän liikennevälitys IL Oy, and he has been sentenced to jail for three years and eight months, just below the 4 year maximum sentence for the offence under Finnish law.
In addition, the court has imposed confiscation order for €608,275 against Mr Riihimäki as the proceeds of crime, and a confiscation order against the company for profits it obtained from the exports in the sum of €6m. The company was also fined €10,000.
Although two other employees had originally been the subject of the investigation, ultimately they were not charged.
The conviction and sentence remain subject to appeal.
The UK’s HM Revenue and Customs has announced the imposition of a compound penalty of £569,157 on Petrofac Facilities Management Limited.
This is the first time, in a long time, that HMRC has named the recipient of a compound penalty.
The breaches took place in 2022 and 2023 with the company supplying prohibited goods to individuals connected with Russia and also providing technical assistance in relation to those goods.
The company subsequently self-reported and cooperated with the investigation.
The change in naming policy is addressed:
“Naming those involved brings us into line with other enforcement partners whilst sending a clear message on the consequences of breaching sanctions rules.”
The Notice further states that “Where appropriate, HMRC will now include naming as a condition when offering a compound settlement for strategic export and sanctions offences“. It appears that naming will now become more common if not done universally.
The Notice also gives helpful guidance on when HMRC will consider a compound penalty rather than prosecution, noting that a penalty will only be pursued where HMRC considers it has enough evidence to prosecute, and other considerations, including:
Moldova’s Information and Security Service and Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases, have conducted raids on the premises of Comelpro SRL.
The company is alleged to have exported technical equipment used in the propulsion systems of YAK-130 and SU-27 aircraft for the Russian military before sanctions were imposed, and then continued to do so by relabelling the exported products as “waste processing devices”, and declaring that the goods were being shipped to a front company in Russia.
The value of the exports is reported to be 21 million lei (approximately €1.03m).
President Macron has confirmed that the French Navy on Tuesday detained the oil tanker, the Deliver off the coast of Sicily.
The vessel was sailing from Primorsk in Russia and is reported to have been flying a Cameroonian flag.
The vessel has been been moved to an anchorage for inspections to take place.
Our Shadow Fleet detention tracker has been updated.
Lithuania’s Financial Crimes Investigation Service has issued a summary of its work for 2025, as well as a more detailed report (see pages 45-46) that includes the following:
The report also notes that 1 of the cases related to public procurement, 1 to the failure to provide information, 5 to circumvention, and 20 to the use of a bank designated by the EU.
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.
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.
