The EU extended its sanctions regime on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine for another six months, until Jan. 31, the European Council announced July 26. In 2014 in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, the restrictions were expanded following this year's invasion to include various sectoral sanctions with bans placed on finance, energy, technology, dual-use goods and luxury goods, among other things.
The EU added four individuals and one entity to its Syria sanctions regime, the European Council announced. The sanctions move addresses the Syrian state's efforts to provide support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Added were Saleh Al-Abdullah, a high-ranking military official; Wagner Group-supervised Sanad Protection and Security Services and co-owners Ahmed Khalil Khalil and Nasser Deeb Deeb; and Issam Shammout, Cham Wings airline owner.
The Commerce Department is prioritizing work to strengthen its export controls and investment restrictions, particularly with allies, Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves said, speaking during a July 25 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said the U.S. is continuing to rethink the existing multilateral control regimes and believes the global sanctions response to Russia has set a precedent for how democracies could respond to similar aggression by other countries in the future.
The U.K.'s Westminster Magistrates Court on July 18 amended two account freezing orders (AFO) issued by the National Crime Agency against two companies that were managing the financial and security needs of sanctioned Russian oligarch Petr Aven, the EU Sanctions blog reported. Aven led Russia's largest commercial bank Alfa Bank until March. In June, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation granted a basic needs license on behalf of Aven for funds to be paid to and from the accounts under the AFOs. While the court said the AFO and OFSI regimes held different purposes, it found it appropriate to vary the terms of the AFOs to be consistent with the terms of a basic needs license granted by OFSI to Aven, the blog post said.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq are sending more crude oil to Europe to boost the region's oil refineries in an effort to aid the pivot away from Russian oil. Over 1 million barrels a day of crude oil -- a number that has doubled from a year ago -- has crossed into Europe from the Middle East in the first three weeks of July through a pipeline that crosses Egypt, data compiled by Bloomberg reported July 22. Most of the oil shipments into Europe are from Saudi Arabia, where companies can deliver the oil via the SuMed pipeline or on smaller ships through the Suez Canal. Iraq is sending its oil via the Suez Canal, with 1.2 million barrels a day being shipped toward the canal from the Persian Gulf in the first three weeks of July, Bloomberg said.
As part of its seventh sanctions package on Russia, the European Council added 48 individuals and nine entities to its sanctions list, including Russia's largest bank Sberbank and high-ranking members of the political class, Russian military and cultural establishment. The newly listed entities are Avlita Stevedoring; Nightwolves MC, a nationalist motorcycle club; Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund; Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent State Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation; Russkiy Mir Foundation; JSC Research and Production Assocation "Kvant"; Sberbank; Forss Group; and All-Russia "Young Army" Military Patriotic Social Movement.
India has substantially increased imports of Russian crude oil in the last few months and could start buying even more, said Reid l’Anson, a commodity economist with Kpler, during a July 22 webinar hosted by the Atlantic Council. India is on pace this month to buy 1 million Russian barrels per day, a significant surge from pre-invasion levels, l’Anson said.
The U.K. in a pair of financial sanctions notices amended one entry under its Libya sanctions regime and six under its Russian sanctions regime. On the Libya sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Abu Zayd Umar Dorda, the director of Libya's external security organization. Under the Russian restrictions list, OFSI amended the entries for individuals Irina Sergeyevna Bubnova, member of the Strategic Culture Foundation; Sergei Sergeivich Ivanov, Alrosa board chairman; and Natalya Petrovna Skorokhodova, member of the Strategic Culture Foundation. OFSI also amended the entries for entities Djeco Group LP, Major LLP and Photon Pro LLP.
The U.K. imposed new sanctions on Russia, the Export Control Joint Unit announced in a July 21 notice. The restrictions include a ban the import, acquisition and supply or delivery of oil and oil products and coal and coal products. The coal ban comes into force Aug. 10; the oil ban, on Dec. 31. The new measures also prohibit exports of items listed on the G-7 Dependency and Further Goods List to, or for use in, Russia, along with bans on the supply of these items from a third country to Russia. The restrictions also expand bans on the export or supply of energy-related goods, and ban the import of gold from Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control should clarify its rules surrounding sanctioned ransomware groups, which are vague and are leading to industry confusion, a senior FBI official said this week. Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said the FBI has specifically urged OFAC to change its procedures around ransom payments and incident reporting for victims.