The European Council extended until Nov. 14, 2023, its Venezuela sanctions regime, citing the country's ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis. The council also updated the statement of reasons for 17 individuals on the list.
The EU added another 10 individuals and one entity to its sanctions regime pertaining to the use of chemical weapons, the European Council said in a Nov. 14 news release. The additions are connected to the poisoning of Russia's leading opposition leader Alexei Navalny and include high-level officials at the Russian Federal Security Service and Russian chemical weapons experts. The added entity is MHD Nazier Houranieh & Sons, which provides the Syrian Studies and Research Center with materials to make chemical weapons delivery systems.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Nov. 10 released its annual review for 2021-2022. OFSI said in the review that from Feb. 22 to Oct. 22 this year, more than $21.4 billion in frozen funds were reported to OFSI as being held on behalf of sanctioned parties under the Russia sanctions regime. That's up from nearly $52 million in September 2021. OFSI received 236 reports of sanctions breaches, issued two monetary penalties and issued warning letters and "other enforcement action where appropriate." The report said OFSI had issued 33 general licenses related to its Russia sanctions regime by Aug. 24 and issued 42 new and 107 amended specific licenses across its nine sanctions regimes, with most relating to Libya sanctions. OFSI, with 45 staff at the beginning of the year, will reach 100 employees by year's end, the review said.
The European Commission last week amended two frequently asked questions under its Russia sanctions regime guidance. Under its asset freeze FAQs, the commission added FAQ 15, which says voting rights by shareholders with qualifying holdings in an EU ban should be viewed as an intangible economic resource given that they can be used to obtain funds, goods or services. Under the oil imports FAQ section, the commission added FAQ 2, which includes information on imports into the EU or the purchase or transfer of goods that originate in a third country but are mixed during transport with goods that originate in Russia.
The U.K. and EU are nearing a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland Protocol dispute, with the EU beginning to test the U.K.'s live database, which tracks goods moving from the U.K. mainland to Northern Ireland, Bloomberg reported Nov. 8. If the EU is satisfied, an agreement could be reached on customs checks in the Irish Sea, a major sticking point in reaching an agreement. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he sees "a real intent in London" and a settlement is possible by year's end, according to the report. It also said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's administration hopes that a deal will settle tensions in the region and restore a working government. Matters such as governance of Northern Ireland remain in dispute.
The U.K.'s High Court of Justice in a Nov. 4 judgment adjourned a trial between VTB Commodities Trading and Petraco Oil over the delivery of oil cargo, according to a Nov. 8 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The U.K. sanctioned VTB in February, leading it to submit an application for a license to pay legal fees for the proceeding. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation failed to process the application eight months after submission, leading VTB to apply to adjourn the trial that was set for May, given that the company could not make the legal payments. In the meantime, OFSI issued a General License over the provision of legal services under the Russia sanctions regime. The High Court considered the license, then adjourned the trial. The court said the trial should be resolved "in part because of the time required to obtain OFSI licences," ordering VTB to apply to OFSI for a license to cover adverse costs liability in the proceeding and to cover other costs not covered by the General License.
Russia's largest ports have seen freight volumes tank due to the EU's sanctions on Moscow, according to research from Vincent Stamer, an expert at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The St. Petersburg port saw an 85% plummet in container throughput in 2022 vs. 2021, with Stamer saying few containers are arriving at what used to be Russia's busiest port, Bloomberg reported. The Kiel Institute, a German economic think tank, showed that Russia brought in 24% fewer goods per month from June through August, compared with the same period last year, leaving a $4.5 billion monthly import gap.
In a reversal, Germany now plans to block the purchase of Dortmund-based semiconductor company Elmos by Sweden’s Silex, a subsidiary of China's Sai Microelectronics, Elmos said this week. Elmos said Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection had previously told both parties that the transaction was “likely to be approved,” according to an unofficial translation of a Nov. 7 statement. Elmos said the deal will “probably be prohibited in the upcoming cabinet meeting on November 9, 2022.”
The European Council on Nov. 8 extended until Nov. 12, 2023, the sanctions regime relating to unauthorized drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, the council announced. The sanctions currently apply to two individuals, who are subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze. The illegal drilling activities include drilling for hydrocarbons.
The EU imposed restrictions on 19 individuals and one entity under its Myanmar sanctions regime, the European Council announced Nov. 8. The individuals include Kan Zaw, minister of investment and foreign economic relations; Htun Htun Oo, Supreme Court chief justice; and high-level officials in the Myanmar Armed Forces and Union Election Commission. The State Administration Council was listed due to its "central role in undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma as well as in actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of the country," the council said. Restrictions initially were put in place following the military coup in Myanmar and currently apply to 84 individuals and 11 entities, subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban.