2024 is the year to defund Russia’s war of aggression. The B4Ukraine Coalition is calling on the German government to prioritise the following areas to achieve this objective:
Increase pressure on Russian fossil fuel revenues, including leading calls for a swift and full ban on Russia’s Liquified Natural Gas imports to Europe; adopting shared measures to curb Russia’s “shadow” fleet to avoid a looming environmental disaster on Germany’s coastline; and stopping the import of refined Russian oil products.
Encourage responsible corporate exits from Russia through issuing risk guidance for companies; and disincentivise continued company operations through the introduction of a ‘Russian operations tariff’ to support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction.
Improve export controls and enforcement to disarm Russia’s military-industrial complex, through boosting corporate responsibility and effective supply chain best-practice human rights and end-user due diligence by demonstrating a willingness to investigate, prosecute and issue substantive fines for violations; ensuring German enforcement institutions are adequately resourced and structured for cooperation; closing export control gaps including, as a matter of urgency, those on Russia and Belarus; and tackling third-country circumvention schemes through targeted sanctions on intermediaries.