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On 7 May, RUSI launched a new policy brief, building on the invaluable work of investigative journalists to identify common mechanisms by which professional service providers facilitate sanctions evasion.

In recent years, OCCRP and its reporting partners have investigated the professional enablers hired by Russian and Belarusian individuals and entities to help them avoid the reach of sanctions. To extract the relevant policy lessons from this body of reporting, OCCRP partnered with RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) to conduct the innovative analysis contained in this policy brief.

Disabling the Enablers of Sanctions Circumvention

As Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine draws on and the range of sanctions targets dwindles, curtailing evasion activities must be a heightened focus for Ukraine’s allies. OCCRP’s reporting and CFS’s analysis demonstrates that fundamental policy and practice gaps continue to allow professional enablers to help their clients improperly protect their assets and interests from sanctions. This policy brief outlines the steps policymakers can take to “disable the enablers,” which will strengthen sanctions implementation beyond the Russian context.

The publication of this policy brief also represents a further strengthening of the relationship between CFS and OCCRP, which is grounded in their shared commitment to expose sanctions evasion, tackle illicit finance, and use the power of investigative journalism to effect change.

Click here for the full press release