UK and Cyprus Strengthen Alliance To Combat Russian Illicit Finance

UK Prime Minister “Keir Starmer” and Cyprus President “Nikos Christodoulides” have announced a plan to establish a new “National Sanctions Implementation Unit” to combat illegal Russian money flowing through Europe.

This unit will exchange intelligence & expertise between the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, and the Cypriot Ministry of Finance.

Advanced investigative powers & analytical tools will be used to disrupt & track the origin and flow of illegal money in Europe. The unit aims to end the Russian-Ukraine war by weakening Russia’s financial backbone.

Further, the UK will support Cyprus to hinder Russia’s military operations, improve the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on Russia, and reduce criminal activities.

The Republic of Cyprus has blocked £1.5 billion in Russian assets, since Putin’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, contributing to the global effort to paralyze Russia’s war engine.

Major points of partnership are:

• Next year, the United Kingdom’s (UK) National Crime Agency (NCA) will deliver training packages on financial crime, to law enforcement teams in Cyprus.
• Both countries will share detailed information on the registration of beneficial owners of assets to identify illegal financial flows & improve transparency.
• Assist HMRC’s to train customs officers in Cyprus to improve their investigation skills, risk profiling, and prosecution techniques on illegal tobacco.

This will disrupt smuggling operations and limit illicit tobacco flows into the UK, therefore aiding the government’s Safer Streets mission.

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According to a Press Release, in July, President Christodoulides’ administration joined the UK-led Shadow Fleet project to protect Ukraine and intercept ships carrying out unlawful operations intended at bypassing sanctions, evading compliance with safety or environmental rules, and avoiding insurance expenses.

The European Union (EU) and 46 countries support this cause, so this initiative has global unity against shadow fleet.