UK sanctions leading Myanmar businessman
The UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (‘FCDO’) has imposed sanctions against a major Myanmar businessman, U Tay Za, and his business empire, the Htoo Group.
The FCDO said: ‘[T]he Htoo Group of Companies, of which U Tay Za is the founder and chairman, is a large business network that operates across the region, which contributed funds to the 2017 Rohingya clearance operations in Rakhine. U Tay Za is associated with the military through his extensive links with the former and current junta regimes and has provided support for serious human rights violations in his role in assisting the military to procure arms.’
UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab said:
‘The military junta has shown no signs of halting its brutal attack on the people of Myanmar. Along with our partners, the UK will continue to restrict the junta’s access to finance and the supply of arms used to kill innocents, including children, and target those who support the junta’s actions.
‘Enforced with immediate effect, sanctions will freeze all UK assets held by Htoo Group and U Tay Za, as well as banning the business tycoon from entering the UK. Sanctions will also block others from providing funds or economic resources to both those designated.’
In May, the Irrawaddy.com website reported that U Tay Za had joined a ‘high-ranking military delegation’ on a trip to Moscow which reportedly set out to discuss ’20 megaprojects including procurement of arms and military hardware.’
It said that U Tay Za ‘made his fortune from the timber business and subsequently expanded his dealings with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the regime of the time was known, by supplying the military with aircraft parts through his company Myanmar Avia Export and that the company ‘is Myanmar’s sole representative for Russia’s Export Military Industrial Group, known as MAPO, and of the Russian helicopter company Rostvertol.’
U Tay Za was placed on the US Specially Designed National (‘SDN’) list in 2008. On its website, the company says its corporate vision is ‘To gain extraordinary economic profit and extensive achievements that best benefit our stakeholders, while impacting humanity through integrity, teamwork, efficiency, social responsibility and family spirit.’
