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Dear [MP’s name]
As your constituent, and someone deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, I wish to draw your attention to a flaw in UK sanctions legislation that means products made from Russian oil continue to flow into our country, generating revenues for Moscow.
To this day, the UK imports a number of petroleum products refined from Russian crude, including jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. Sanctions prevent the direct export of Russian crude to Britain, but third countries, like Turkey, China and India, can still import the oil to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The refining process changes the country of origin of the finished product, meaning even though the oil originated in Russia, the fuel can now be freely exported to western countries, including the UK, and sold on to ordinary consumers.
This sequence of events has been called the ‘refining loophole’. The matter has been covered by several media outlets:
BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68018660
Sky News: https://news.sky.com/video/how-is-russia-exploiting-loopholes-to-sell-oil-to-the-uk-and-eu-13131191/
Given the level of British support to Ukraine, I am shocked that Russia is still able to finance its war effort with our money. For this reason, I want to highlight an initiative launched by a British-based non-profit group, Mission Ukraine UK, which has developed a proposal for closing the loophole. The proposal has been shared with the relevant government departments, and includes legislative changes and a compliance mechanism, both of which could be easily implemented.
You can read more about the initiative here: http://www.russianloophole.com. Mission Ukraine UK is ready to answer any questions you may have about the loophole and their proposal to address it.
May I respectfully request you to urge the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Business and Trade to support the implementation of a sanctions mechanism that prohibits the supply of refined petroleum products made with Russian oil and thereby cuts off an important source of funding for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
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