The EU General Court in a June 1 judgment dismissed an application from sanctioned individual Yevgeniy Prigozhin to revoke the European Council acts including and maintaining his designation under the Libya sanctions regime. Prigozhin was originally listed due to his standing as a Russian businessman with links to the paramilitary Wagner Group. He filed his case to argue that the council relied on inadmissible evidence to make the sanctions decisions. The court rejected this claim, holding that the evidence, which includes UN reports and press articles, appears sound and reliable and thus contains "some probative value."
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the U.S. a warrant to seize a Boeing 787-8 aircraft and Gulfstream G650ER aircraft owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, DOJ announced June 6. The district court said the airplanes are subject to seizure and forfeiture based on probable cause of violating the Export Control Reform Act and recent Russia sanctions imposed following the country's invasion of Ukraine (see 2206060038).
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The U.S. and Canada this week announced an initiative to strengthen collaboration on Russia-related export controls. In a joint statement, the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Canada Border Services Agency said they will share more trade information to stop Russia from acquiring sensitive technologies, including through coordinated pre- and post-shipment verifications and audits. The two countries will also work more closely on inspections of exports, seizures and export control investigations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new frequently asked question and updated two other FAQs related to its Russia sanctions. New FAQ 1055 clarifies how and whether Russia-related investment restrictions apply to the lending of funds or the purchasing of an equity interest in entities located outside Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security June 6 charged Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich with violating U.S. export controls by exporting U.S.-origin aircraft to Russia without the required licenses (see 2202240069). BIS said Abramovich’s planes flew to and from Russia in March, days after the agency announced new export controls on Russia-related aircraft.
The EU officially imposed its sixth sanctions package on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the European Council announced June 3. The package includes a phased ban on the "purchase, import or transfer" of crude oil and certain petroleum goods from Russia to the EU. The prohibition will take six months for crude oil and eight months for other refined petroleum products. The council also laid out a temporary exception for crude oil imported via pipeline into the EU member states that "suffer from a specific dependence on Russian supplies and have no viable alternative options" -- namely, Hungary, which held up the ban over energy supply concerns (see 2206020016). Bulgaria and Croatia were also granted exceptions for the import of Russian seaborne crude oil and vacuum gas oil, respectively.
The Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes, corrections and clarifications to its export regulations and added a host of new Russian and Belarusian entities to its Entity List, it said in notices. One change adds a license requirement for certain medicine and food shipments to the two countries, and another change allows BIS to publicize export enforcement charging letters before a case is resolved.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as FINMA, will extend its restrictions on the Swiss wing of Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, until August due to "heightened international sanctions and the continuing risks for the bank's liquidity situation," FINMA announced June 1. In March, the financial regulatory agency imposed the restrictions on Sberbank, deferring the bank's obligations for deposits and banning payments and transactions. The restrictions will now carry until Aug. 2, FINMA said.
The EU and the U.K. have agreed to a coordinated ban on insuring ships carrying Russian oil, Financial Times reported May 31. The measure comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's statement over the EU's sixth sanctions package on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Von der Leyen touted a ban on insurance and reinsurance of Russian ships by EU companies along with a ban on 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 -- a number arrived at in a bid to appease Hungary.