The UK Government has announced that it will no longer issue any new guarantees, loans and insurance for exports to Russia and Belarus.
The move follows the decision to announce a ban on exports to Russia of high-end luxury goods while hitting hundreds of key products with new tariffs that represent a 35% rise on current rates.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) — the UK’s export credit agency — has also confirmed that it will remain open to supporting trade to Ukraine with £3.5 billion of capacity available as part of its continuing support.
This means UKEF can continue to help UK exporters and Ukrainian buyers access the finance they need to trade commercially. Without government export credit support, any financial backing from the private sector to the region would be virtually impossible.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “Our severe economic sanctions are working. We are tightening the screws on Russia to ensure they feel real consequences for their illegal military invasion. At the same time, we are doing everything we can to ensure Ukraine remains open to the world. We have signed an international treaty so that UK supplies can reach Ukraine and strengthen their defences, and UK Export Finance — our first-class export credit agency — is supporting them with this.”
The latest figures show that the Department for International Trade (DIT) has resolved over 1000 queries from businesses, helping to maintain the flow of trade to Ukraine, and also supported businesses that are wishing to stop trading with Russia and Belarus.
More than 50 licences for exports to Russia have been voluntarily surrendered by UK businesses while DIT has received 33 licence applications to export items to support Ukraine (compared to 43 approved in the whole of 2020).
