President Joe Biden this week extended national emergencies that authorize certain sanctions related to Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Russian actions in Ukraine. Each was renewed for one year.
U.S. enforcement agencies this week issued their first joint “compliance note” to warn industry about common Russian sanctions evasion efforts. The note -- from the Commerce, Treasury and Justice departments -- outlines methods Russia uses to circumvent trade restrictions, including through intermediaries or transshipment points, and describes a range of red flags businesses should monitor.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 37 entities to the Entity List for a range of activities the agency said threaten U.S. national security, including for supporting Russia’s war effort, sending controlled items to China’s military and aiding companies already listed on the Entity List. The entities -- located in Belarus, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Russia and Taiwan -- will be subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with varying license application review policies. BIS also modified 10 existing Chinese entries on the Entity List. The additions and changes took effect March 2.
The U.K. corrected one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, in a Feb. 28 notice. The listing for Matthias Artur Warnig was amended to reflect his ties to President Vladimir Putin and his role as the Rosneft board's independent vice chairman, and remove identifying information of a different person.
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The EU adopted its 10th sanctions package on Russia, the European Council announced. The restrictions include imposing a travel ban and asset freeze on another 87 individuals and 34 entities, as well as various trade sanctions, including additional export bans on critical technology and industrial goods.
Australia joined the U.S. and other G-7 countries (see 2302240028, 2302240025 and 2302240054) in imposing new sanctions against Russia last week, designating an additional 90 people and 40 entities. The new sanctions target Russian ministers overseeing the country’s energy, natural resources, industry, education, labor, migration and health sectors, Australia said, and also officials “perpetuating the Kremlin's mistruths to shore up support for President [Vladimir] Putin.” Australia also said it will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, including “Uncrewed Aerial Systems,” which “provide a battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability for the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they continue to fight.”
One of the “most challenging” aspects of complying with U.S. and Western sanctions against Russia during the past year has been the service restrictions, which has created hurdles for companies trying to understand “exactly what types of activities fall within the scope of the covered services,” Sidley Austin said. In a Feb. 22 alert describing key compliance lessons from one year of Russia sanctions, the law firm said the service restrictions are “broad,” affecting everything from accounting to quantum computing, and not always carried out equally across various sanctions regimes.
The U.K. unfurled a new round of sanctions on Russia to mark the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced. The sanctions ban the export of "every item Ukraine has found Russia using on the battlefield to date" and place individual restrictions on another 92 individuals and entities. Sanctions target parties connected to state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom and Russian President Vladimir's Putin's closest allies, including his former chief of security and the CEO of Nord Stream 2, the FCDO said.
The G-7 and the EU last week committed to expanding sanctions against Russia and picking up enforcement efforts to counter Moscow’s sanctions evasion tactics. In a joint statement released Feb. 24, the group’s leaders said they “will maintain, fully implement and expand the economic measures we have already imposed” and establish an “Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to bolster compliance and enforcement of our measures and deny Russia the benefits of G7 economies.”