The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended entries under eight sanctions regimes, the U.K. said in Jan. 19 notices. OFSI amended entries under its regimes for Belarus, Burma, Chemical Weapons, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Russia and Syria. The amendments update identifying information for the entries, which are still subject to asset freezes.
The State Department sanctioned a Russian entity and a vessel involved in the construction of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 (see 2008110016 and 2007150021). The sanctions target KVT-RUS and the vessel Fortuna, the State Department said Jan. 19. The two were designated under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. State said it will consider “further actions in the near term” to target the pipeline.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced new controls on technologies and activities that may be supporting foreign military-intelligence end-uses and end-users in China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and other “terrorist-supporting” countries. The agency also will bolster controls to prevent U.S. people from supporting weapons programs, weapons delivery systems and weapons production facilities, BIS said in an interim final rule issued Jan. 15. The changes take effect March 16. Comments are due March 1.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven people and four entities involved in a Russia-linked influence network aimed at influencing U.S. elections, OFAC said Jan. 11. The designations target former Ukrainian government officials Konstantin Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Andriy Telizhenko and current Ukraine Parliament member Oleksandr Dubinsky. OFAC also sanctioned NabuLeaks and Era-Media TOV, media companies in Ukraine that “push false narratives,” and Petro Zhuravel, who owns designated media disinformation companies Only News and Skeptik TOV. Also designated were Dmytro Kovalchuk and Anton Simonenko, who work closely with Andrii Derkach, a sanctioned Russian agent. Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a statement on the move, saying: “The decision to impose sanctions on Andriy Telizhenko for his role in these efforts is welcome and long overdue. By imposing sanctions on Telizhenko, the Trump administration confirms that Senate Republicans’ year-long investigation was based on Russian disinformation. In fact, Chairmen [Ron] Johnson [of Wisconsin, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee] and [Chuck] Grassley [of Iowa, the Finance Committee] cited Mr. Telizhenko 42 times in the letters sent as part of this investigation, and ignored repeated warnings to not give credibility to disinformation.”
The United Kingdom amended several entries under its Syria, Russia and chemical weapons sanctions regimes, Jan. 8 notices said. The revisions include changes to Kamal Cheikha’s entry under Syria and the entry of Russia’s State Unitary Enterprise of the City of Sevastopol (Sevastopol Sea Port). The other revisions amend seven entries designated for chemical weapons reasons: Andrei Veniaminovich Yarin, Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, Sergei Ivanovich Menyailo, Aleksandr Vasilievich Bortnikov, Pavel Anatolievich Popov, Aleksei Yurievich Krivoruchko and the State Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 5 issued two new frequently asked questions and amended two other FAQs to clarify sanctions against Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The FAQs cover OFAC’s non-blocking menu-based sanctions, certain definitions and other sanctions clarifications.
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Russia recently extended its import ban on agricultural goods from countries that impose financial sanctions on Russia, including the U.S., according to a Dec. 21 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. The ban will remain in effect through the end of 2021 with no changes to the list of covered products, FAS said, which includes various meats, seafood, dairy products and vegetables.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security will amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) Dec. 23 to add the new military end-user list (see 2012210047), consisting of 103 entities subject to export licensing requirements, the agency said in a Dec. 22 notice. Licenses will be required to export, reexport or transfer certain items described in the EAR that are subject to military end-use (MEU) or end-user licensing requirements. A BIS spokesperson said the 102 cited in the notice is a typo.