Lukoil Evades Sanctions by Funneling Through Northern Ireland (per the Kiev Post.)
As the EU mulls additional sanctions on Russia, Irish media outlet The Currency reported on Thursday that Russian oil company Lukoil, which netted about €100 billion last year, is bypassing Euro sanctions through a legal arrangement involving a subsidiary called Vantru, registered in Northern Ireland.
The subsidiary, Lukoil Capital Designated Activity Company, was established in September 2021, about five months before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to The Currency, as relayed by Ukrainska Pravda, the shell company’s only function was to issue bonds in order to raise billions of dollars for Lukoil, and it managed to do that to the tune of US$2.3 billion.
The directors of Lukoil Capital are linked to Vantru, a corporate services firm based in Northern Ireland. Vantru is not subject to sanctions, as the EU (of which Ireland is a member state) have not formally banned Lukoil’s operations, as have the United States and the United Kingdom, allowing the Russian oil giant to maintain access to Western capital markets despite international isolation.
Complicating matters, while Northern Ireland is still part of the UK, according to British law, European Union sanctions measures that pertain to the import and export of goods automatically apply in Northern Ireland.
There’s no suggestion Vantru did anything improper; In comments to The Currency, Vantru founder Rory Mulvaney confirmed that his firm works with Irish companies linked to Russia. He believes it is legal to raise funds from Russian businesses to pay Western investors, provided such payments are not prohibited.
