Danish multinational mineral wool product manufacturer Rockwool International confirmed a Global Investigations Review report that the Danish Business Authority is investigating the company for its Russia-related business activities. Rockwool said the agency had requested "general information, for example, regarding ownership structures as well as regarding potential sanctioned sales and sales involving the Russian military."

The EU General Court in a March 1 opinion granted "interim measures" allowing Russian national Nikita Mazepin, sanctioned in September, to enter the EU to "negotiate his recruitment" as a Formula 1 driver racing under a neutral flag. The opinion marks the first time the court suspended sanctions on a person pending the main hearing of the case, according to the European Sanctions blog.

The European Commission last month approved certain genetically engineered soybean and oilseed rape crops for food and animal feed, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report last week. The approvals, which will be valid for 10 years, apply to food and feed “for import and processing, but do not cover cultivation,” the agency said. The imports will be subject to the EU's strict labeling and traceability rules. USDA said these crops are the “first group of GE approvals for export to the EU that the Commission has approved in 2023.”

The European Commission recently updated its frequently asked questions page on specialized financial messaging services and how they intersect with sanctions. The commission updated the answer to the first FAQ -- "What are the banks subject to the prohibition to provide specialized financial messaging services?" -- and amended the answer to the second FAQ, which deals with Russian banks using "other means of communication" to "compensate" for restrictions placed on their ability to use financial messaging services, such as SWIFT.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet with President Joe Biden March 10, and will discuss "U.S.-EU coordination to combat the climate crisis through investing in clean technology based on secure supply chains," the White House said March 2.

Russia could run out of money in 2024 and need funds from "friendly" nations to continue to weather the sanctions storm, billionaire Oleg Deripaska said March 2 at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum in Serbia, Bloomberg reported. "There will be no money already next year," Deripaska, founder of aluminum giant Rusal International, said. "We will need foreign investors." Russian authorities are already planning to hike budget revenue with changes to how it taxes oil companies, and is considering a one-time levy on commodity producers, the report said.

The U.K. updated six open general export licenses, the Export Control Joint Unit announced in a March 1 notice. Three OGELs -- export after exhibition or demonstration military goods, export after repair replacement under warranty military goods, and exports under the U.S.-U.K. defense trade cooperation treaty -- were updated to take into account changes to the military list, the ECJU said. Two OGELs -- military goods and technology to India and technology for military goods -- also were updated to show changes in the military list and to fix typographical errors. Another OGEL, military goods A400M collaborative program, was updated to allow two additional export customer destinations.

The U.K. extended by five years its antidumping duty on high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bar from China, the Department for International Trade announced March 1. The duties will be extended until July 30, 2026, and the U.K. will maintain the duty rates previously imposed on the steel concrete rebar, which range 18.4% to 22.5%. Non-examined companies receive the 22.5% rate.

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.

The U.K. and Welsh governments are hosting a delegation of economic development leaders from Indiana until March 2 as part of the U.K-Indiana Memorandum of Understanding on economic cooperation and trade relations, the Department for International Trade announced. Meetings are focusing on clean energy, women's economic employment and "levelling-up," it said.