The Bureau of Industry and Security added four entities to the Entity List last week after the agency said they illegally supplied U.S. items and parts to Russia or Venezuela. The companies, which have locations in Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Panama, Spain, Russia and Venezuela, either supplied U.S.-origin integrated circuits to Russia’s defense sector or helped the Nicolas Maduro-led regime in Venezuela illegally acquire export-controlled aircraft parts.
The U.K. this week amended Russia- and Iran-related sanctions entries. The changes were to identifying information for Irina Anatolievna Kostenko under its Russia sanctions regime and to the Ya Mahdi Industries Group under Iran.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Nov. 16 sanctioned three United Arab Emirates-based companies and three vessels for violating the price cap on Russian oil (see 2310240068). The designations target Kazan Shipping Inc., Progress Shipping Co. Ltd. and Gallion Navigation Inc., the registered owners, respectively, of three vessels: the Kazan, the Ligovsky Prospect and the NS Century.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 people and 18 entities involved in Russia’s “malign influence” and corruption in the Western Balkans, including government officials and organized crime leaders in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The designations, announced by both the Treasury and State departments, also target individuals who “impede critical reforms and progress toward EU accession” of those countries, the State Department said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to release another new set of Russia-related export controls next month, which could include potential additions to the Entity List, said Matthew Borman, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued a correction to a sanction designation published in the Federal Register in April 2021. The correction fixed the basis for the designation of Artem Nikolaevich Stepanov, who was sanctioned for having ties to Russian company Yunidzhet, a procurement agent for Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the former leader of the Russian private military company Wagner Group.
Members of the European Parliament are pushing member states to more strictly enforce sanctions against Russia, saying “loopholes” are still allowing Russia to reap revenue from its oil sales and import export-controlled electronics. In a resolution adopted by the parliament last week, the body called for a lower price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products and a new mechanism to oversee member states’ sanctions enforcement.
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Canada last week announced another set of Russia-related sanctions, targeting nine people and six entities involved in the “Kremlin-backed orchestration of disinformation and war propaganda.” Canada said some of the designated entities are either directly funded by the federal government or receive state grants distributed by Kremlin agents to “spread false narratives and propaganda as if it were expert opinion in an attempt to legitimize” Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The U.K. dropped one name from its Russia sanctions list. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed Sergey Stognienko, management board member of Bank Otkritie Financial Corp., a financial services company in Russia.