G-7 ambassadors sent a letter to the Swiss Federal Council laying out their concerns that Russians are exploiting Swiss privacy laws to hide billions of francs in offshore assets, the Financial Times reported. The letter said "law enforcement officials are blocked from investigating illicit financial structures" due to "privacy protections,” and Swiss officials “were unable to freeze assets under protections for dual nationals, legal residents, those with legal ties to Swiss entities, or those holding indirect beneficial ownership." The ambassadors said the loopholes "put Switzerland at reputational risk." The Swiss council said there is no basis for the concerns.
Nations allowing the export to Russia of dual-use products that have military as well as commercial applications are on notice, Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves said April 19 at the Space Foundation's 2023 Space Symposium. "Any country ... that seeks to backfill the Russian war machine ... does so at their own peril," he warned. Export controls by the U.S. and 38 other nations aimed at dual-use products such as semiconductors and lasers are "hobbling" the Russian war effort in Ukraine, he said.
John Unsalan, the president of building materials supplier Metalhouse, was arrested and charged with violating U.S. sanctions on oligarch Sergey Kurchenko and two of Kurchenko's companies by providing them with over $150 million for steel-making materials, DOJ announced April 17. Unsalan faces 10 counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, one count of conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions, one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering and 10 counts of international money laundering, each of which comes with a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
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The U.K. issued a General License under its Russia sanctions regime allowing Russian Railways to pay Lithuanian Railways for the rail transit of individuals between the Kaliningrad region and other parts of Russia. The license "excludes the transit of goods." The license expires April 13, 2025.
China condemned the recent U.S. inclusion of 12 Chinese companies on the Entity List for their aid to Russia's war against Ukraine. All 12 companies were accused of backing Russia's military or defense industrial base (see 2304120039). A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said the U.S. has no basis in international law to carry out the sanctions, and the move is a "typical unilateral sanction" that damages the legitimate rights of Chinese companies, according to an unofficial translation. The spokesperson called for the immediate cessation of the sanctions, adding that China will safeguard the interests of its companies.
The U.S. this week warned ship owners and service providers of new “deceptive practices” being used by Russia to evade the oil price cap, particularly for oil exported through the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and ports on the eastern coast of Russia. Shippers, traders and others should watch for several red flags to avoid helping Russia evade the cap, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an April 17 alert.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on April 13 amended or corrected entries for four businesspersons under its Russia sanctions regime. OFSI amended the entry for Tatiana Evtushenkova to add address information, and corrected information in the entries for Felix Evtushenkov, Natalia Evtushenkova and Nariman Gadzhiev.
European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said last week that with the staggering costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the invasion and indiscriminate shelling and bombing by Russian forces, the EU is doing legal analysis on how it could use "confiscated Russian assets," whether seized or frozen, to help pay for Ukraine's reconstruction.
The European Council added the Wagner Group and RIA FAN to its Russia sanctions regime, subjecting them to an asset freeze. While the Wagner Group, a Russia-based private military entity, already was subject to sanctions under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the EC designated the group for leading the attacks against Soledar and Bakhmut in Ukraine. RIA FAN is part of the Russian media company Patriot Media Group and disperses pro-Russian propaganda, the EC said.