Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial support packages for small and medium sized companies who (a) choose to stop trading with Russia or (b) have to stop trading to comply with sanctions.

The UK and our international partners have stood united in condemning the Russian Government in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We have imposed an unprecedented package of sanctions to inflict maximum and lasting pain on the Russian Government.

The Government is not imposing any legal requirement on companies to go further, and businesses should make their own choices about trade outside of the current sanctions. But as raised by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in his recent statement, we welcome the commitments already made by firms and investors to divest away from Russia, and we should applaud those who have chosen to take that extra step for the people of Ukraine.

Where businesses seek to break contracts with Russian entities, we recommend seeking independent legal advice. The Department for International Trade have expanded its Export Support Service (ESS) to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia. Any business that has question about trading with Ukraine or Russia, can visit https://www.gov.uk/ask-export-support-team, or call our helpline using the number 0300 303 8955.

The Government is already providing support worth around £21 billion during this year, and next, to help people with the cost of living and we will continue to monitor the economic impact of the conflict.