Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted in Part
Expedite and strengthen sanctions against all Wagner-linked individuals and entities, closing enforcement gaps.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government move faster and harder in sanctioning Wagner- linked individuals and entities. Specifically, it should: (Paragraph 58) (a) Sanction all individuals and entities provided in Appendix 1, which the United States and European Union have already targeted but which the UK has not; (b) Consider bringing forth sanctions on civilian enablers and corporate ‘frontmen’ for the network’s activities; and (c) Close enforcement gaps. Guns for gold: the Wagner Network exposed 55
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, highlighting recent designations of 13 Wagner-linked individuals and businesses in July, some of which were not targeted by the EU or US. It explains that the UK's sanctioning ability depends on building individual cases under its own statutory requirements and it will consider the committee's analysis in detail for future action, implying a selective approach to additional sanctions rather than a blanket acceptance of Appendix 1.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
Partially agree. 12. The Wagner Group was designated in its entirety under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 in March 2022. Yevgeny Prigozhin, its then leader, was designated under The Libya (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 in December 2020. 13. We continue to use sanctions policy to deter and disrupt malign Wagner activity. On 20 July, the UK designated 13 individuals and businesses involved with the Wagner Group in Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan. They include Konstantin Pikalov, Prigozhin’s ‘right hand man’, as well as Al-Solag mining, a Wagner front company not designated by the EU or US. The designations limit their financial freedom by preventing UK citizens, companies and banks from dealing with them, alongside freezing any assets held in the UK, and imposing travel bans on the individuals. 14. The Government’s ability to sanction individuals and entities depends on being able to build individual cases in line with the statutory requirements of the relevant geographic or thematic sanctions regime. These may differ from the grounds available to the United States and the European Union. Each country’s sanctions regimes are different, and each country uses them for different purposes and has different approaches in applying sanctions. For example, the UK relies on ‘ownership and control’ provisions, which means that subsidiaries are not designated separately. 15. The Government welcomes the analysis provided in Appendices 1 and 2 of the FAC’s report and will consider this in detail when considering further action.