A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with two recent European Council sanctions decisions. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Liechtenstein also imposed the EU's changes on its terrorism sanctions list, the council said. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway imposed the EU decision amending entries related to Belarus' support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Financial Action Task Force officially suspended Russia's membership, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network told U.S. banks this month. The FATF -- which establishes international standards for financial institutions to combat terrorist financing, money laundering and weapons proliferation -- noted Russia’s “actions unacceptably run counter to the FATF core principles aiming to promote security, safety, and the integrity of the global financial system,” FinCEN said.
The European Parliamentary Research Service released a briefing covering a timeline of EU sanctions on Russia, including an analysis of the sanctions, their effectiveness and their economic impact.
Arms shipments to Europe have “risen sharply” due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a March 13 report. Many of the exports have come from the U.S., the report said, which accounted for 40% of global arms exports from 2018 to 2022. The report also highlighted a steep decline in Russian arms shipments, mostly due to Western sanctions, although Moscow increased its arms exports to China by 39% and to Egypt by 44% from 2018 to 2022. Russian arms exports to India during that same time period fell by 37%.
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The Indian government has asked its banks and traders to adhere to Western sanctions imposed against Moscow, including the price cap on oil set by G-7 countries, Bloomberg reported March 12. Although India has reportedly increased its purchases of Russian energy to take advantage of discounted prices, the country is buying oil “well below” the price cap, the report said, and is not looking to breach other sanctions imposed against Moscow.
The U.K. amended or corrected 21 entries under its Russia sanctions regime in a March 10 notice. Among those whose entries the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended are Oleg Evtushenko, Rostec's management board member; Vitaly Markelov, deputy-chairman of Gazprom's management board; Yuri Olenin, Rosatom management board member; Roman Pakhomov, Aeroflot-Russian Airline director; Andrei Petrov, Rosatom management board member; Alexander Prokopiev, Russia State Duma member. OFSI also made corrections to the listings for 12 individuals and two entities, the Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defense Corp. and Sobol.
U.S. export controls against China could cause the country to dominate the global industry for “lower-capability” chip technologies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its annual threat assessment released last week. The DNI also warned that China, which is quickly building new chip factories, remains the “top threat to U.S. technological competitiveness.”
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its guidance on its maritime services prohibition and oil price cap on refined Russian oil products to show the price cap and the wind-down period for oil products loaded before Feb. 5, according to the EUSanctions blog. The guidance also includes a new "origin of goods" section on whether oil products have been substantially processed and details a new example concerning the transport of co-mingled refined oil products.
The EU General Court on March 8 annulled the listing of Nizar Assaad under the Syria sanctions regime, finding the European Council erred in establishing that he is still a businessperson in Syria, has any ties to the ruling Assad or Makhlouf families or is associated with the Syrian regime. The court also said the council violated the principle of legal certainty by retroactively imposing the sanctions in 2011 after confirming that Assaad was not the listed party for the previous 10 years.