A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty on July 28 to smuggling goods from the U.S. to Russia, DOJ announced. Andrew Pogosyan, through his company, Omega Diagnostics, evaded export controls on Russia by shipping "scientific and diagnostic research equipment components to Russia without the required licenses," DOJ said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has renewed a sanctions waiver for Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned oil company NIS, an entity designated in January for its ties to Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft. At the request of Serbia's Mining and Energy agency, the U.S. now has extended a waiver for the designation five times since January, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said July 27, according to an unofficial translation. NIS operates the country's only oil refinery.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than 115 people, entities and vessels for their ties to Iran, including for their part in a “vast shipping empire” controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a top political adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Shamkhani. The designations -- which target a network generating tens of billions of dollars for Iran by moving oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia to buyers around the world -- represent the U.S.'s largest Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, OFAC said.
Guernsey, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the English Channel, announced fines of 175,000 pounds (about $230,000) and 35,000 pounds (about $45,000) against a company and its director, respectively, for Russia-related sanctions violations. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said ITI Trade and Alex Phil, its director, committed “wide-spread and systemic breaches” of sanctions regulatory requirements related to its Russian clients and “failed to ensure appropriate and effective” procedures against money laundering and financing terrorism.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, introduced a bill July 25 that would prohibit exports of medicine and prosthetic medical devices, such as artificial limbs, to Russia. The ban would stay in place until the State Department certifies to Congress that Russia has ended its military operations in Ukraine and withdrawn its forces. The Medical Supply Sanctions Act was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, that the Chinese delegation spoke too early when they said the two sides agreed to another 90 days at current tariff levels, because the president is the one to decide. However, in a later interview with CNBC, Bessent said the meetings had been "highly satisfactory."
President Donald Trump said he's no longer giving Russia 50 days, until Sept. 2, to stop its war in Ukraine or face trade measures. He told reporters in Scotland on July 28, "I'm going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today. There's no reason in waiting," he said. "We just don't see any progress being made."
The U.K. last week released a threat assessment of the sanctions compliance risks involving British "cyptoasset" firms, saying those companies have likely underreported suspected sanctions breaches to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation since August 2022. Although most cases of noncompliance by these companies have occurred "inadvertently due to common issues such as direct and indirect exposures to" sanctioned people, the U.K. said it expects that some of the violations have involved dealings with the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex. It also said crypto firms are "at risk of being targeted" by North Korean hackers and added that some British crypto firms are likely "facilitating transfers to Iranian cryptoasset firms with suspected links" to sanctioned parties.
The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation July 22 to increase sanctions on Russia and Burma and revise sanctions on Syria.
The U.K. on July 24 amended the sanctions listing for energy company Litasco Middle East DMCC under its Russia sanctions list. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the listing to note that the company is also known as LME Trading DMCC.