Nynas AB, a joint venture between biofuel producer Neste and Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., is no longer designated by the Treasury Department after a “corporate restructuring” by the company, Nynas said May 12. The company’s restructuring “severs control by blocked persons and reduces the interest of blocked persons below 50 percent,” the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a May 12 notice in which it announced it was revoking a general license for Nynas (see 2005120028). OFAC clarified that U.S. companies and people no longer need an authorization to deal with Nynas “provided such activities do not involve blocked persons.”

A U.S. information management company may have violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing released May 7. Iron Mountain, which provides information and data storage services, said its foreign subsidiary provided services to an Iranian government entity and another entity designated for weapons proliferation. Iron Mountain said the subsidiary provided “limited” record storage, container storage and handling services for both entities, which are both located outside of Iran. In both cases, the services began “at a time when U.S. sanctions law did not limit” the dealings, Iron Mountain said. The company’s gross revenues from providing services to both companies totaled about $300,000, Iron Mountain said, adding that “it is not possible to determine the exact amount of profits attributable to these services.”

The United Nations Security Council amended a Singapore-related entry on its sanctions list, according to a May 11 notice. The update amends identifying information for Yuk Tung Energy, a commercial ship manager for the tanker Yuk Tung, “which conducted ship-to-ship transfer of refined petroleum product,” the UNSC said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked Venezuela General License 13E, which authorized certain transactions involving Nynas AB, a joint venture between biofuel producer Neste and Petroleos de Venezuela, according to a May 12 notice. The license was scheduled to expire May 14 (see 2004030043). OFAC also updated General Licenses 3H and 9G to remove references to Nynas AB. The agency also made “conforming technical updates” to two frequently asked questions to reflect the revocation of the license.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued several “administrative updates” to certain Specially Designated Nationals List records, according to a May 7 notice. The updates “reclassified certain aliases as weak.” The notice contains the unique identification numbers (UIDs) for each of the affected SDN entries.

The United Nations Security Council amended a sanctions entry for Martin Koumtamadji, the leader of an anti-government militia in the Central African Republic, according to a May 5 notice. The update provides more identifying information. Koumtamadji was sanctioned by the UNSC and the United Kingdom in April (see 2004220011).

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Nicaragua sanctions to match the recent designations by the European Union of six Nicaraguan officials (see 2005050016), according to a May 5 notice. All six officials are now subject to an asset freeze.

The United Nations issued a sanctions exemption to allow a South Korean non-governmental organization to ship goods into North Korea, according to an April 30 UN letter. The organization, Greentree International, will import a range of construction materials into North Korea for an “agricultural rehabilitation project” to assist people with disabilities. The items will be shipped together in a “consolidated manner” to increase “efficiency of shipping and custom clearance.”

The European Council sanctioned six people responsible for human rights violations in Nicaragua, according to a May 4 press release. The EU sanctioned Ramon Antonio Avellan Medal, Sonia Castro Gonzalez, Francisco Javier Diaz Madriz, Nestor Moncada Lau, Luis Perez Olivas and Justo Pastor Urbina. All six people are officials working for Nicaragua’s National Police or the government.

United Nations human rights experts are urging the U.S. to lift sanctions and other trade measures against Cuba to help the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an April 30 news release. The UN called on the U.S. to lift trade barriers, tariffs, quotas and other non-tariff measures that may be blocking Cuban imports of humanitarian goods. The experts said U.S. policy toward Cuba creates a “cumbersome and expensive licensing process” for exports. They also said the U.S. has “ignored repeated calls to waive sanctions that undermine the capacity of Cuba and other countries to respond effectively to the pandemic.” The Treasury Department said it maintains sufficient exemptions for humanitarian trade (see 2004170017 and 2004100044).