Russia trades through British offshore companies despite the war

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy faced sanctions, disruption of supply chains and the departure of foreign companies. However, the new restrictions did not stop foreign trade - it only changed routes.

New research from Transparency International Russia shows that companies registered in the British Overseas Territories remain one of the key channels. Through such jurisdictions, Russian firms continue to purchase equipment, sell raw materials and move assets.

According to our experts, from February 2022 to January 2025, the volume of trade through these British offshore companies amounted to at least $8 billion, and the number of transactions exceeded 29 thousand.

Why these particular territories?

More than 95% of transactions take place in the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda, jurisdictions where access to information about the ultimate owners of companies remains limited.

This opacity makes them a convenient tool for international trade under sanctions: intermediary structures make it possible to blur supply chains and complicate the tracking of financial flows.

The role of the British Virgin Islands, which appears more often than others in export transactions from Russia, is especially noticeable. This may indicate attempts to hide profits from the natural resource trade.

“British Overseas Territories remain an important element of the global financial system, but their lack of transparency makes them a convenient tool for hiding assets and circumventing sanctions. Our analysis shows that, despite international pressure, these mechanisms continue to work - and Russian companies still actively use them for foreign trade, moving assets and protecting income from control,” emphasizes the author of the material , Vladislav Netyaev .

Supply structure

Trade transactions include oil products, coal from the occupied territories of Ukraine, equipment for the oil and gas industry, helicopters and business jets.

A separate category consists of luxury goods. From 2022 to early 2024, at least 160 cases of yachts being moved through companies registered in the British Overseas Territories were recorded. These transactions show that offshore structures are used not only for trading transactions, but also for holding and moving high-value assets.

Sanctions risks

A number of shipments contain metals subject to UK sanctions, including lead and zinc. This may indicate violations of the sanctions regime or the use of intermediary schemes that make it difficult to establish the origin of goods and final recipients.

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“Overseas sweets”: how Russia continues to use British offshore companies after the start of the war