Russia recently introduced a bill to revise regulations for its sanctions regimes and its countermeasures against U.S. sanctions, an Aug. 21 EU Sanctions blog post said. Among other changes, the bill would expand the scope of sanctions to apply to entities owned or controlled 25% or more by a sanctioned person or entity. The bill would also impose reporting requirements for financial institutions on measures they are taking to implement sanctions, and create a new penalty that would suspend or revoke a financial institution's license “in the event of repeated sanctions violations,” the post said.
The United Nations Security Council on Aug. 14 rejected a U.S. resolution to extend the Iranian arms embargo, raising the possibility of the U.S. invoking snapback sanctions under the Iran nuclear deal. Only the U.S. and the Dominican Republic voted in favor. Russia and China voted against; 11 members abstained, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. All three previously said they would support an extension of the arms embargo (see 2006220020), which is scheduled to expire in October.
European countries need to increase sanctions against Venezuela to force a regime change and limit Nicolas Maduro’s ability to evade U.S. restrictions, said Carrie Filipetti, the State Department’s assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Filipetti also said more U.S.-European cooperation can help limit the Maduro regime’s access to gold supply chains, which it uses for funding.
Three Republican senators threatened U.S. sanctions against a German port for helping to build Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 2007150021), urging the port to stop providing “goods, services and support” for the project.” In an Aug. 5 letter to Fahrhafen Sassnitz GmbH, operator of Mukran Port, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said the port should immediately stop supporting the Russian-flagged vessels Fortuna and Akademik Cherskiy.
Democratic and Republican senators called on the State Department to do more to pressure the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela, saying the U.S.’s approach, which they called ineffective, should include more multilateral support and stronger sanctions against Maduro’s allies. Several senators said they would back legislation to grant the administration more sanctions powers.
The United Kingdom on July 31 imposed sanctions against six people and three entities responsible for cyberattacks. The designations mirror the European Union's July 30 measures against North Korean, Chinese and Russian cyberattackers (see 2007310007). The U.K. recently issued details for its post-Brexit cyber sanctions regime (see 2006220018).
The Council of the European Union on July 30 imposed its first sanctions against responsible parties behind cyberattacks, which it said were perpetrated by Chinese, Russian and North Korean individuals and entities. The designations target six people and three entities for attacks against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and multinational companies in the EU. Designated are: Gao Qiang, Zhang Shilong, Alexey Valeryevich Minin, Aleksei Sergeyvich Morenets, Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov, Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, Tianjin Huaying Haitai Science and Technology Development Co. Ltd., Chosun Expo and the Main Centre for Special Technologies (GTsST) of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The U.S. on July 31 sanctioned a Chinese state-controlled organization and two Chinese officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang. The sanctions target the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, former XPCC Party Secretary Sun Jinlong and XPCC Deputy Party Secretary Peng Jiarui.
Two senators plan to address the lack of regulation in the art industry after the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a July 29 report detailing how Russian oligarchs have used the industry to evade U.S. sanctions. The report calls the art industry the “largest legal, unregulated market” in the U.S., saying it has been exploited for money laundering to aid U.S.-sanctioned people and companies, allowing them to conduct million-dollar transactions. The industry is not subject to anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing controls for transactions, the report said, and private art dealers are not required to comply with anti-money laundering requirements.
The State Department updated its guidance for the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act to address sanctions related to Russian energy export pipelines (see 2007150021), especially Nord Stream 2 and the second line of TurkStream, a notice released July 22 said. The agency deleted portions of the guidance that limited the focus of the act’s sanctions authorities to Russian pipeline projects for which a contract was signed on or after Aug. 2, 2017, the notice said. The agency also clarified that the “focus of implementation” will include Russian pipeline projects, such as Nord Stream 2, a pipeline from Russia to Europe, and the second line of TurkStream, from Russia to Turkey.