The U.K. dropped two entries from its Russia sanctions regime and amended or corrected four others in a July 15 notice. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed Didier Casimiro and Zeljko Runje from the sanctions regime while amending the entries for Sergei Ivanovich Saenko, Vladimir Leonidovich Sivkovich and Oleg Anatolyevich Voloshyn. OFSI also corrected the entry for diamond mining company Alrosa.
The U.K.'s House of Commons Library released two research briefs reviewing energy imports from Russia and sanctions on that country. "Imports of energy from Russia" covers the U.K.'s reliance on Russian energy, Russian energy's impact on international energy markets, restrictions on Russian energy imports, and data on Russian energy reliance. "Sanctions against Russia" reviews U.K. sanctions on Russia before 2022, as well as the U.K.'s response to Russia's recent aggression toward Ukraine, coordination of sanctions with other major countries and secondary sanctions.
Shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Co. continues to accept deliveries of food, medicine, health-care equipment and humanitarian aid from Russia, the company confirmed in response to questions from Bloomberg. MSC is attempting to draw a balance between cutting business ties with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and continuing to provide essential goods to the nation, the company told Bloomberg, the news outlet reported July 14.
The England and Wales High Court adjourned a trial involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, only recently releasing the May 6 judgment publicly. Deripaska was sanctioned by many of the world's leading economies in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the defendant cannot pay his lawyers for legal representation in the present case, so the legal team is "coming off the record." The lawyers applied to adjourn to avoid an unfair trial. In vacating the case, Justice Sara Cockerill ruled she is "satisfied in this significant hard-fought and complex case a fair trial would not be possible -- however dim a view one takes of Mr Deripaska's past actions." The case involves a long-running dispute over alleged breaches by Deripaska, with Navigator Equities obtaining an arbitral award against the oligarch.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued one new and three updated general licenses related to Russia alongside an update to OFAC's Frequently Asked Questions and a Food Security Fact Sheet, according to a July 14 notice.
The U.K. amended entries under its Russia and Belarus sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a pair of notices July 12. Under the Russia sanction list, OFSI amended 16 entries and corrected those for Vadim Anatolyevich Lukashevich and German Valentinovich Belous.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week released the texts of two previously issued Ukraine/Russia-related General Licenses. The licenses are GLs 2 and 10, which expired in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The licenses authorized certain wind-down transactions or divestments involving sanctioned Russian entities.
Customers and borrowers of financial institutions may start to receive more requests from banks about their export control compliance practices due to a recently issued joint alert by the Treasury and Commerce departments, Crowell & Moring said July 13. The alert also has other implications for customers of certain financial institutions, the firm said, and could hurt their ability to receive lenient penalties from a voluntary disclosure.
The EU is ramping up efforts to monitor Russia-related export control evasion and hopes to soon make more progress on sanctions enforcement within the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, said Sabine Weyand, the European Commission’s director general for trade, speaking during a July 13 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She expects EU enforcement to soon pick up because many of the bloc’s wind-down periods for the restrictions are ending.
Lithuania has halted the transport of more goods to Kaliningrad as more EU restrictions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine take effect, Reuters reported. Lithuania banned the transit of concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals via its territory to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, which includes a seaport, a spokesperson for Lithuanian customs said, Reuters reported. The ban also includes an expansion of the restrictions on ferrous metals, which began in June. Russia called the ban on some goods an illegal blockade, while Lithuania said it has no choice but to enforce the EU's sanctions. Russia warned of "harsh measures" that could be imposed in response to Lithuania's move.