The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) and 10 other British Overseas Territories (BOTs) have been added to the Russian government’s “unfriendly countries” list.

The counter-sanctions list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation includes foreign states and territories that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, its companies and its citizens, Russia’s leading news agency, TASS is reporting.

According to the decree, Russian citizens and companies, the state itself, its regions and municipalities that have foreign exchange obligations to foreign creditors from the list of unfriendly countries will be able to pay them in Russian rubles. The new temporary procedure applies to payments exceeding 10 million rubles per month (or a similar amount in foreign currency).

COUNTER SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT

Originally the list only included three British-controlled territories: Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar, but it has since been amended to include Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Akrotiri and Dhekelia and TCI.

In March 2022, the Russian Government imposed counter-sanctions on the United States and Canada, EU States, the UK (including Jersey, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar), Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, and also Japan, South Korea, Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan.