The UK and EU have widened sanctions on Russia, but European companies with subsidiaries and stakes still tied to the Russian economy have drawn scrutiny over whether that exposure blunts the sanctions campaign. TotalEnergies and the London-based investor Njord Partners illustrate the gap regulators face closing next.
The UK's new Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, announced his first Russia sanctions package, targeting six Russian banks, six shadow fleet tankers and four Russian companies importing materials believed to support the war in Ukraine, including tantalum and niobium. Separately, the EU sanctioned five individuals linked to Russia's military-industrial complex in response to recent Russian attacks on Ukraine's economic infrastructure.
More than 3,400 designations since 2022
The announcement brings the UK government's total Russia-related designations to more than 3,400 individuals, entities and ships since 2022, with 500 added this year alone. The EU's own package, its 21st, introduces transaction bans and asset freezes targeting Russian financial institutions, energy actors, crypto platforms and entities linked to the military. Maria Demertzis, professor at the European University Institute, has questioned the campaign's effectiveness, since European institutions continue running profitable Russian subsidiaries with little scrutiny.
TotalEnergies keeps its Yamal stake
TotalEnergies has kept its stakes in Yamal, Russia's largest LNG plant, though it deconsolidated the holdings from its official reporting. CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said the company earns about $400 million a year selling liquefied natural gas from Yamal, on top of dividends from its 20% stake in Yamal LNG and 19.4% stake in Novatek, Yamal's parent. Pouyanne said 2024 dividends from Novatek ran about $600 million a year but remained stuck abroad. In July 2026, TotalEnergies announced it would exit its 10% stake in the Arctic LNG 2 plant, transferring it to Nordline, a subsidiary of Novatek, though it remains unclear whether the company will be compensated.
An investor's Russian exposure
Njord Partners, a London-based special situations manager, has been an institutional investor since 2017 in RETN, an international network provider whose Russian subsidiary, JSC RetnNet, keeps a presence in the Russian market. JSC RetnNet has had commercial relationships with organizations including GUP TEK, PJSC Rostelecom, Rosbank and the Kurchatov Institute. Rosbank has been designated under US sanctions, and the Kurchatov Institute has faced US export-control restrictions, while its president Mikhail Kovalchuk and his brother Yury have been sanctioned in several jurisdictions. Such exposure is not, by itself, evidence that Njord, RETN or JSC RetnNet has breached UK or EU sanctions.
The next phase of sanctions, the article argues, should extend beyond designating Russian entities to closer scrutiny of European businesses that remain economically exposed to Russia through subsidiaries, stakes and investments.
Source: Oilprice.com
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