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The UK has imposed sanctions on key figures it says is involved in Russian oil trade, as it aims to raise economic pressure on Moscow amid ongoing negotiations for a peace deal in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Kier Starmer described the UK as “the biggest sanctions package ever” on the oil tankers of Russia’s so-called Shadow Fleet, and the UK also targeted five Azerbaijani traders, including Etibal Eyyub, Tahir Galeif and Ahmed Kelimov.
The decision to sanction the executives represents a serious escalation in Western efforts to limit Russian oil trade. The UK, the US and the EU had previously approved companies that they claimed to be involved in the export of Russian oil, but have generally stopped targeting individuals.
The widespread Western sanctions regime against Moscow was designed to allow Russian oil to continue flowing and reduce the revenues collected by the Kremlin. In response, Russia has built a network of oil tankers, shipping companies and traders to avoid many rules.
Eyyub, Garayev and Kerimov were all involved in “benefiting from supporting the Russian government, either directly or indirectly, or by working as directors of coral energy (now the two-storey group),” the UK government said in its decision.
The UK linked Eyyub to two more companies, Nord Axis Ltd and BX Energy, and approved it on Friday.
It is the first time that authorities have unveiled coral energy, founded by Galeiyev in 2010, and Node Axis, one of the groups of traders born to trade Russian oil following President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Nord axis was incorporated on February 15, 2022, before Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border. Five months later, in July 2022, it emerged as a buyer of Trafigra’s multi-billion dollar stakes in Russia’s huge Vostok oil project.
The terms of transactions between the two private companies have not been disclosed. Trafigura said Nord Axis had won $5.8 billion in “non-Ricors bank obligations” borrowed from Russian lenders, and funding the purchase of the original $7.3 billion of assets. Trafigura declined to comment on the UK’s sanctions decision.
Coral has previously said it destroyed Russia’s involvement in oil before Western restrictions were introduced at the end of December 2022.
In 2024, Kerimov and two other coral executives Anal Madatri and Tara Safarov were approved on Friday to acquire the company from former shareholder Galeiyev in a management acquisition. They later rebranded it as a two-river group. The UK approved the two-storey building in December.
In a statement to the Financial Times on behalf of two rivers, Madatli and Safarov, the sanctions said the company “supports the “highest international standards” of its proven record of legitimate conduct and continued cooperation with regulators.”
“The UK sanctions that were first imposed in my company were serious and unjust actions that were personally imposed on me and were unable to recognize the substantial reforms we had made,” he said. “Since 2022, we have reduced our activities, terminated the Russian energy market and fully adapted to the requirements of the G7 Price Cap Coalition.”
Eyyub and Garayev could not be immediately contacted for comment.
The UK has also imposed sanctions on dozens of oil tankers, which are said to have carried more than $24 billion in cargo since its inception in 2024.
“Every step we take to raise pressure on Russia and achieve just and sustainable peace in Ukraine is another step towards the security and prosperity of the UK,” Starmer said in a statement.
