UK announces ban on luxury goods exports to Russia

LONDON, March 15 (MENA) - The UK government announced a ban on luxury goods exports to Russia on Tuesday as well as imposing new tariffs on Russian imports, including vodka, in its bid to isolate Russia from the global economy following its invasion of Ukraine, the Business Insider reported.

In a press release announcing the news, the UK government said that the new export ban will come into force shortly and "will make sure oligarchs and other members of the elite, who have grown rich under President Putin's reign and support his illegal invasion, are deprived of access to luxury goods."

The UK has already imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs, including the owner of English Premier League soccer club Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, and "Putin's right-hand man" Igor Sechin.

The UK government included a list of the £900 million ($1.17 billion) worth of goods such as iron, steel, fertilizers, and vodka that will be impacted by additional 35% tariffs when imported into the UK.

UK finance minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement Tuesday: "These tariffs build on the UK's existing work to starve Russia's access to international finance, sanction Putin's cronies and exert maximum economic pressure on his regime."

In the announcement Tuesday, the government said that its G7 Allies – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US – also plan to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia.