Britain is still trading with Russia to the tune of £1.9bn a year, official figures have revealed, despite heavy sanctions against Vladimir Putin‘s regime over the war in Ukraine.
Latest data from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) show that last year, the UK exported £1.4bn worth of goods and services to Russia, while imports from that country were worth £467m.
While the figures mark a decrease year on year – and are significantly lower than before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 – critics said they were still “shocking” given Moscow’s continuing onslaught.
And they come despite Sir Keir Starmer’s tough stance against Putin over the war.
The DBT insisted that most of the imports and exports were for humanitarian purposes and did not violate the UK’s sanctions against Putin and individuals and businesses connected to his regime.
It said imports from Russia had fallen by 99.1 per cent compared to before the invasion and the imposition of UK sanctions on Russia.
This decline in trade included sanctioning every item found on the battlefield and a commitment that the UK would “continue to ratchet up economic pressure until it ends its brutal invasion of Ukraine”.
But the Lib Dem MP Martin Wrigley, a member of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, questioned whether any of the exported goods and services from the UK to Russia – such as medicinal and pharmaceutical products, cars and organic chemicals – were being “unintentionally” used by the Russian military against Ukraine forces.
Wrigley, who has written a letter to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to raise concerns, told The i Paper: “It’s concerning to see millions of pounds in British exports continuing to flow into Putin’s Russia.
“People will be shocked to see business of that scale continue despite the Kremlin’s vile assault on Ukraine.
“We need to maintain pressure on Russia’s economy, robustly enforcing our sanctions regime to punish Putin’s aggression.
“The Government, together with partners in the EU, should also fully commit to seizing frozen Russian assets across the UK and Europe – totalling £40bn – to help fund Ukraine’s defence.”
The DBT figures show that the £1.9bn in total trade between the UK and Russia was a decrease of 17.3 per cent on the year and that it accounts for 0.1 per cent of the total value of UK trade.
Russia was the UK’s 68th largest trading partner in 2024.
The top five exported goods were medicinal and pharmaceutical products (£338.6m), beverages and tobacco (£117.9m), organic and chemicals (£65.1m), cars (£40.6m) and toilet and cleansing preparations (£34.7m).
The top five exported services were travel (£143m), insurance and pensions (£133m), other business services (£126m), financial (£99m) and telecommunications, computer and information services (£94m).
The top five goods imported from Russia were miscellaneous metal manufactures (£27.4m), aircraft (£25.5m), unspecified goods (£5.1m), other manufactures (£770,000), and vegetables and fruit (£620,000).
The top five service imports from Russia were other business services (£238m), insurance and pensions (£77m), travel (£41m), telecoms and IT (£17m) and government (£14m).
In his letter to Reynolds, Wrigley wrote he was “deeply concerned” about the figures, adding: “Like the Government I have been steadfast in my support for Ukraine. They have been the victims of Russian aggression and I am proud that this country has led the world in providing support for them to defend their country.”
The MP said he was concerned that the exported goods, particularly medicinal and pharmaceutical products, “may be unintentionally being used by Russian military forces against our great friend, Ukraine”.
He added: “Can you reassure me where these medicinal and pharmaceutical products are going and whether they are being used for humanitarian purposes, or are they at risk of being used in military purposes?
“Can you also reassure me that the Government will work to end all our exports to Russia except in registered exceptional circumstances to ensure we are not inadvertently supporting the Russian war effort such as with medicinal and pharmaceutical products?”
The Government said that there were some exceptions to sanctions or some cases where licences may be issued for “specified activities that would otherwise be prohibited by the regulations”.
These were decided on a case-by-case basis by the Business Secretary.
A Government spokesperson said: “Together with our international partners, we have implemented on Russia the most comprehensive package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy. Over £20bn of pre-war UK trade with Russia is now under sanctions.
“While UK imports from Russia have fallen by 99 per cent, there are certain exemptions, including certain food and medicines.”
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