The U.K. on Dec. 15 sanctioned Russia-based Joint Stock Commercial Bank Novikombank. The country's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said the bank conducts business in a sector of "strategic significance" to the Russian government. OFSI also amended the listings for 27 other Russia-related entries.
Charles McGonigal, a former FBI agent in the New York Counterintelligence Division, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his work with sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a Dec. 14 news release. McGonigal in August pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including by, following his departure from the FBI, investigating a rival Russian oligarch in return for payments from Deripaska (see 2308160029).
If U.S. policymakers become tempted to use sanctions to prevent a potential conflict with China, they should expect to face a wide range of challenges in wielding such economic tools, speakers said at a Dec. 15 event hosted by the Center for a New American Security.
A new blog post from the Treasury Department highlights the impacts that U.S. sanctions and export controls are having on Russia’s economy, outlining how the country’s “macroeconomic performance is suffering” and its policy responses to Western sanctions are “growing increasingly expensive.” The blog describes some of the issues that have contributed to Russia’s contracting economy, its difficulty in sourcing parts and components for its military, the “volatility” of its exchange rate and more. Russia has the resources to “maintain its war in the short-term,” Treasury said, but “its leaders face increasingly painful trade[-]offs that will sacrifice long-term prospects -- as underinvestment, slow productivity growth, and labor shortages will only deepen.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines (see 2206240051) that it said continue to illegally operate aircraft on flights into and out of Russia. The agency renewed denial orders for Siberian Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Nordwind Airlines for one year from this week. The orders were previously renewed for 180 days, but BIS requested a longer extension because the airlines continue to "act in blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of previously issued TDOs," including by operating flights between Russia and Dubai, Istanbul, Minsk, Beijing and Bangkok.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working more closely with the Office of Foreign Assets Control on enforcement issues, which could allow the two agencies to better align the BIS Entity List and OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List, a BIS official said this week.
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The U.S. this week sanctioned more than 250 people and companies supplying Russia’s military in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls, targeting procurement networks in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. The Treasury and State departments said many of the newly sanctioned companies supplied Russia with goods listed on the Commerce Department’s list of common high-priority items, including electronic components, while others sold Russia advanced weapons and military technology.
The European Council this week added to its sanctions regimes for Iran and Myanmar and extended its restrictions on Mali for another year.
The U.K. this week unveiled a new agency that it said will boost enforcement of its Russia sanctions and "clamp down on companies dodging" those restrictions, the Department for Business and Trade announced. The new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation also will help the government issue "tougher penalties" for trade sanctions violations and refer cases for criminal enforcement.