Russia this week imposed sanctions against 31 former subsidiaries of state-owned energy company Gazprom, including entities in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported May 11. Among the designations, according to an unofficial translation of the report, are Gazprom Germania GmbH, which recently was taken over by the German government after being abandoned by Gazprom in March (see 2204140012). The sanctions block Russian companies from doing business with the subsidiaries, and vessels associated with the subsidiaries are barred from Russian ports.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 11 updated three frequently asked questions related to Russia sanctions. The FAQs clarify what type of services to Russia are blocked under U.S. restrictions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued Syria General License 22, which authorizes the processing or transfer of funds on behalf of third-country entities to or from Syria in support of the transactions necessary for agriculture, information and telecommunications, power grid infrastructure, construction, finance, clean energy, transportation and warehousing, water and waste management, health services, education, manufacturing and trade in northeast and northwest Syria.

Japan announced another wave of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, placing an asset freeze on 141 people and a ban on exports to 71 Russian entities. The newly sanctioned individuals include Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and 133 politicians from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said, according to an unofficial translation. The restrictions also include a general export ban on advanced technologies to Russia. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed in a separate announcement that Japan will phase out imports of Russian oil after the G-7, which includes Japan, committed to do the same. The list of the politicians from Donetsk and Luhansk will be listed here and the list of other Russian individuals is here.

President Joe Biden extended by one year national emergencies that authorize certain sanctions related to Yemen, the Central African Republic, Iraq and Syria, the White House said May 9. Respectively, the extensions are through May 16, May 12, May 22 and May 11, 2023.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five “financial facilitators” for the Islamic State group of Iraq and Syria. The people operate across Indonesia, Syria and Turkey and help “extremists” travel to Syria and other regions where ISIS operates, OFAC said. The facilitator network also helps the group conduct financial transfers. The agency designated Dwi Dahlia Susanti, Rudi Heryadi, Ari Kardian, Muhammad Dandi Adhiguna and Dini Ramadhani.

The U.K. added Russian steel manufacturing and mining company Evraz to its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a May 5 notice. The company is now subject to an asset freeze. Per a statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Evraz makes 28% of all Russian railway wheels and 97% of Russian railtracks. The OFSI notice listing Evraz also corrected eight entries under the Russia sanctions regime.

Hungary blocked an EU proposal to ban Russian oil imports at a meeting of the EU's 27 ambassadors that ended on May 8 without an agreement, Bloomberg reported May 8, quoting "people familiar with the talks." The proposal would ban crude oil imports from Russia, phasing in the ban over the next six months, and also ban refined fuels by January. The EU offered Hungary and Slovakia until the end of 2024 to come into compliance with the bans and the Czech Republic until June 2023 to do the same, given their reliance on Russian oil, Bloomberg said.

The U.K. rolled out another round of sanctions on Russia and Belarus in response to their assault on Ukraine, the Department for International Trade announced May 9. The new restrictions target over $2 billion worth of goods, imposing tariffs on over $1.7 billion worth of Russian imports, including platinum and palladium, and export bans on over $307 million worth of goods, in an effort meant to disrupt Russia's manufacturing and heavy machinery industries.

Adding sanctions on Chinese surveillance company Hikvision would represent a “profound escalation” of U.S.-China technology tensions, prompt retaliation from China and further accelerate economic decoupling, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said May 6. The sanctions, reportedly under consideration by the Biden administration (see 2205040009), could “vault Hikvision past Huawei to become the most-sanctioned Chinese tech company,” the think tank said.