The State Department again determined Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba aren't “cooperating fully” with U.S. antiterrorism efforts, a notice released May 19 said. Under the Arms Export Control Act, no defense article or defense service may be sold or licensed for export to a foreign country that is determined not to be cooperating, unless a waiver is granted.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated Lebanese businessman and Hezbollah financier Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah along with five associates and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq, according to a May 19 notice. The action highlighted Hezbollah’s practice of using seemingly legitimate businesses to secretly fund the terrorist group and its activities, the OFAC news release said.
The EU extended its sanctions regime relating to cyberattacks for another three years, to May 18, 2025, the European Council said May 16. Under it, the EU can continue to impose sanctions on individuals or entities involved in cyberattacks that "cause a significant impact, and constitute an external threat to the EU or its member states." Currently, the restrictions apply to eight individuals and four entities and include an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The U.S. will loosen some Trump-era restrictions on Cuba-related remittances, the State Department announced this week. The administration plans to remove the current limit on family remittances of $1,000 per quarter per “sender-receiver pair,” and it also will authorize donative, or non-family, remittances to “support independent Cuban entrepreneurs.” The agency said it will work with electronic payment processors to “encourage increased Cuban market accessibility.”
The European Commission said companies can continue buying Russian gas without violating sanctions, tempering its stance on the issue. A commission spokesperson said the EU sent revised guidelines to EU member states May 13, saying companies should "make a clear statement" they consider their obligations fulfilled once they pay in euros or dollars, Bloomberg reported May 16.
International sanctions against Belarus have blocked about $16 billion-$18 billion worth of its annual exports to Western nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Reuters reported May 15. Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told a state-owned media outlet this week that “almost all of Belarus' exports to the European Union and North America have been blocked” since the sanctions were imposed, according to the report. Belarus has been subject to many of the same sanctions and export controls applied to Russia because it has aided Moscow’s military in its war in Ukraine (see 2204080062 and 2204080008).
The departments of State and the Treasury, along with the FBI, issued a May 16 advisory regarding possible attempts by North Korean IT workers to obtain employment while posing as non-North Korean nationals, according to a notice from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The U.K. added 12 individuals to its Russian sanctions regime in a May 13 notice. The listed parties are Alina Kabaeva, National Media Group board chair, and her grandmother, Anna Zatseplina; Viktor Khmarin, Russian lawyer linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin; Mikhail Klishin, SOGAZ insurance company board member; Vladimir Kolbin, Russian businessman; Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, Putin's ex-wife; Aleksandr Plekhov, Russian businessman; Igor Putin, director of International Sea Port of Pechenga; Mikhail Putin, Putin's cousin; Roman Putin, MRT Group of Companies board chair; Yuri Shamalov, Gazfond president; Mikhail Shelomov, Putin's cousin; and Anna Zatseplina, Kabaeva's grandmother.
Switzerland listed two individuals under its Russian sanctions regime, adding Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Vitaliyovich Kurchenko and Russian businessman Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin to the restrictions list, according to an unofficial translation. The EU made the additions on April 21, and Kurchenko is listed under the U.S. and U.K. sanctions regimes, the EU Sanctions blog reported May 11. Prigozhin is listed under the U.K. Libya sanctions regime and the U.S. Russia, cyber and election interference sanctions regimes.
Companies need to stay on top of their compliance because significant escalation of Russia-related sanctions is possible, KPMG experts said. The "dramatic increase in the use of sanctions and other controls" over the past two months will likely continue to expand in complexity, said Jason Rhoades, KPMG senior manager-trade and customs services, during a May 11 webinar. Because Russian behavior toward Ukraine has not changed, "we expect [the use of sanctions] to continue to grow," Rhoades said. "There is significant room still out there for [sanctions] escalation."