The UK is issuing licenses to russian oligarchs under sanctions

Since the beginning of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the UK Treasury has issued at least 82 licenses to hold sanctioned assets, and many more applications are pending. 

According to the NYT, the year before the war in Ukraine, the government received 11 applications for licenses related to russian sanctions and approved nine. After the war, the number of applications rose to just over 1,000. By the end of last year, the government had approved 82, and many of them are awaiting a decision.

For example, russian banking magnate Mikhail Fridman received a license to maintain his home in London and pay 19 employees, including drivers, private chefs, housekeepers and handymen, during the first year of the war. And his former colleague, Peter Aven, was able to get more than two-thirds of the license fee - about £45,000 - to go to a security firm owned by his financial manager, Stephen Gaither. 

It is worth mentioning that the former russian banker Tinkov managed to sue to be removed from the sanctions lists.

This trend indicates the need to revise the sanctions mechanism and to exercise greater control over the management of russian assets abroad.

Source: The New York Times