The European Council updated various frequently asked questions pages under its Russia sanctions regime. New FAQs on customs-related matters, oblasts, humanitarian aid and circumvention and due diligence were released, adding to the guidance for transactions linked with trade in the Donets, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Despite the massive sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, the country has seen a 6% increase in capital expenditure, contrasted with initial forecasts of an up to a 20% decline, Bloomberg reported Feb. 8. Russia's response to the sanctions has been to spend its way out, with large and small companies looking to replace foreign equipment and software or funnelling money into building new supply chains to reach new markets. Bloomberg said that while investment has allowed Russia to stave off many of the worst economic effects of the sanctions and export controls, its investment future is much more bleak. Bloomberg Economics predicts that fixed-asset investment will dry up by 5% in 2023. While government and state-owned corporate investment may yet further increase, private sector investment is poised to dip.

The U.K. amended 28 entries under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime and corrected another four, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The amended entities were for 25 individuals and three entities. The entry corrections were for Mohamad Abdurrahman, Iyad Ag Ghali, Mohamed Belkalem and Mohamed Mostafa.

The U.K. added eight individuals and seven entities to its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced.

The EU removed Dmitry Vladimirovich Ovsyannikov, a former governor of Sevastopol, from its Russia sanctions list, according to a European Council decision published Feb. 7. The governor was removed in line with the EU General Court's ruling removing his designation in October. The designation was renewed in September before judgment was rendered.

The EU recently published draft regulations that could change labeling requirements for imported wine, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Feb. 6 report. The change would require wine sold in the bloc to include a “compulsory nutrition declaration and a compulsory list of ingredients” beginning Dec. 8. Another change would affect the EU’s VI-1 “accompanying document” for imported wine products. Under the revision, the certificate would be required to also include a list of the ingredients. The EU is accepting public comments on the changes through Feb. 23.

The EU General Court recently rejected a claim from former Ukrainian Minister of Revenues and Duties Oleksandr Klymenko looking for over $53,000 in reputational damages and over $2.1 million -- plus around $536 a month -- in damages stemming from his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. Klymenko was listed under the EU's Ukraine misappropriation of state funds regime from 2015 to 2021.

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU sanctions decision concerning Iran. On Jan. 23, the European Council amended the list of individuals and entities subject to the restrictions. In response, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.

The EU is readying its 10th package of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in a Feb. 3 statement following the EU-Ukraine summit. Aiming to have the sanctions package imposed by the Feb. 24 one-year anniversary of the war, the EU reportedly will focus on technology that Russia's military could use and on reducing sanctions circumvention.

The U.K.'s prohibition on the maritime transport of refined oil products from Russia and the provision of related services came into force Feb. 5, along with $100 and $45 price cap exceptions for oil products traded at a premium to crude and at a discount to crude, respectively. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation concurrently issued an updated guidance on the ban and oil price cap, which covers an overview of the ban, compliance and enforcement, exceptions and licensing, attestation with example scenarios, reporting requirements, definitions and examples of where the ban will not apply.