The EU announced exceptions to sanctions placed on Russia over its war in Ukraine and its recognition of the independence of that nation's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Organizations acting as humanitarian partners of the EU are exempted from the ban on making funds available to designated individuals or entities, the European Council said April 13. Also, certain categories of humanitarian organizations won't be subject to export restrictions and bans on the provision of services under the Donetsk and Luhansk regime for their humanitarian work in the non-Russian-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 11 sanctioned seven people and four entities for their involvement with the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, which operates in Ireland and "is established" in the U.K., Spain and the United Arab Emirates, OFAC said. "The Kinahan Organized Crime Group smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe, and is a threat to the entire licit economy through its role in international money laundering," Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. The action was the "result of close collaboration" between U.S. officials, Ireland’s national police force, the U.K.'s National Crime Agency and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation.

Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, launched Operation Oscar along with Eurojust and Frontex to target assets owned by sanctioned Russian individuals and entities to help enforce the recent waves of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The operation will also seek to bolster EU member states' criminal investigations into the circumvention of EU sanctions. Operation Oscar will run for at least a year and include various other separate investigations, Europol said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control April 12 issued Russia-related General License 26, allowing a wind-down period with Sberbank subsidiaries Joint Stock Company SB Sberbank Kazakhstan and Sberbank Europe AG. Certain transactions are authorized through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12.

The U.K. added two entries to its Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions list and amended three names under its Russia sanctions regime. In one notice, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Zeljka Cvijanovic, president of Republika Srpska, and Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party, to the Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions regime. In a separate notice, OFSI amended the entries for Evgeny Alekseevich Fedorov, Tigran Organesovich Khudaverdyan and Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 11 designated seven people and one entity across four countries for their involvement in corruption and organized crime that threatens the stability of the Western Balkans. The targets are former business executives and government officials in Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. "The people designated today constitute a serious threat to regional stability, institutional trust, and the aspirations of those seeking democratic and judicious governance in the Western Balkans,” Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.

The EU added 217 individuals and 18 entities to its fifth sanctions package on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Announcing the additions April 8, the European Council said they include Kremlin officials, oligarchs and proponents of disinformation surrounding the war in Ukraine. Among them Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, shareholder of fertilizer company Acron Group; Boris Rotenberg, shareholder of Gazprom Drilling and co-owner of the SGM group; and Oleg Deripaska, owner of Russian Machines and other arms companies. The restrictions also apply to family members of sanctioned individuals.

The U.K. added three more names to its Russia sanctions regime following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation April 8 notice said: Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova, Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova. OFSI also amended the entry for Evgeny Alekseevich Fedorov, a member of the State Duma of Russia. All are subject to an assets freeze.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued additional sanctions on major Russian state-owned enterprises and five additional general licenses related to Russia. OFAC expanded sanctions against Alrosa, the world's largest diamond mining company, along with United Shipbuilding Corporation, which is responsible for the construction of almost all of Russia’s warships, OFAC said April 7. Alrosa was previously designated in February (see 2202240069).

American farmers on a trade mission in Cuba said U.S. restrictions are still hampering agricultural exports to the island, Reuters reported April 6. Although the U.S. offers carve-outs for certain agricultural products, the farmers said they aren’t competing on a level playing field compared with other foreign suppliers. "We're hamstrung because of this embargo," Paul Johnson, co-chair of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, told Reuters. "We can't compete on even footing with other suppliers around the world, because they can offer credit ... that means a lot." The U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba didn’t comment. A spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which oversees certain Cuba sanctions, declined to comment.