How to Identify Russian Connections Behind a Company

Conducting a Russian company check is no longer just a due diligence best practice — it is a critical compliance requirement. New sanctions packages from the EU, UK, US, and other jurisdictions continue to expand restrictions on Russian businesses, while secondary sanctions, anti-circumvention measures, and the "50% rule" create additional risks for organisations worldwide.

A company may not appear directly on a sanctions list but still be controlled by sanctioned individuals, operate in restricted sectors, or maintain ties to high-risk jurisdictions through complex ownership structures. In many cases, businesses attempting to bypass sanctions use intermediaries or third countries, making a simple Russian company registration check insufficient.

Where Russian Business Has Left Its Trace

Russian companies have spread their tentacles around the world. Such partners, suppliers, customers, and beneficiaries may be among your counterparties or indirectly at the 2nd or 3rd level of business relations. Russia's largest companies have branches, subsidiaries, and shell companies in different countries. And this makes them difficult to find, verify and isolate.

The international ramification of connections makes it difficult to find information. In different countries, the verification of counterparties faces various obstacles, such as:

• Complex corporate structures;
• Difficult access to official registers;
• The language barrier, etc.

All this allows Russian companies and oligarchs to circumvent sanctions. And it puts everyone exposed to compliance risks in danger.

Key Features of Compliance within Russian Sanctions

Meanwhile, direct or indirect cooperation with Russian business may be regarded as support for military aggression against Ukraine and cause the following consequences:

• Sanctions by EU member states, the USA, and others;
• Investigations by law enforcement agencies;
• Seizure of property and freezing of bank accounts;
• Negative reputational consequences due to public censure of the company's policy.

To avoid such risk factor, make sure there are no "traces" belonging to Russian business in your business field.

Search for Russian Companies and their Connections with the Ukrainian System YC World

Ukrainian IT company YouControl has created the YC World system for searching for business connections with Russia and belarus. The tool works based on open data and detects even the most hidden connections of businesses and individuals with the aggressor countries through chains of intermediaries. In other words, if a person has even an indirect contact – through relatives, work, or job titles – the tool will show the connection as a possible risk factor.

To use the tool for checking and visualising connections, register as a user on the website of the YC World website and specify the company name and ID for a refined search.

To check a person, enter the full name, and specify the taxpayer identification number for a refined search. The system will show a report about who the company or person is connected with, through which company, on what basis, and what risks these connections may carry for you.

YC World by YouControl contains comprehensive data of Russian and Belarusian PEPs from more than 100 sources and checks legal entities and individuals on more than 50 international sanctions lists. The data is updated daily according to changes in the registries and lists. So you can rely on this tool to verify Russian business, avoid dangerous connections and not support an aggressor country.