The European Commission updated its Russian sanctions frequently asked questions pages, providing guidance on gold imports, aviation, asset freezes and oil reporting obligations. The gold imports FAQs cover why the EU introduced the import ban and what it covers, and whether processed gold, including gold jewelry, is included in the ban and if there are exceptions. The aviation FAQs include whether measures affect a non-Russian operator that operates a Russian registered aircraft, or if the ban concerns private flights owned or rented by Russian citizens or EU or third-country registered aircraft rented by Russian citizens.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 29 sanctioned two people and four organizations for supporting Russia's "global malign influence operations and election interference activities." The sanctions target Natalya Valeryevna Burlinova, founder and president of an entity that relies on state funding and has ties to Russian intelligence services. The agency also designated Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) "co-optee," who has worked to "promulgate the Kremlin’s disinformation and malign influence agenda," OFAC said. Also sanctioned are the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, Ionov Transkontinental, STOP-Imperialism and the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative Creative Diplomacy.
The EU dropped Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli from its Libya sanctions list following his death, the European Council said in a July 27 implementing decision. Al-Werfalli was originally listed in 2020. A former commander of the Benghazi-based al-Saiqa Brigade, he allegedly was involved in various human rights abuses, including executions in Libya. The council also updated the statement of reasons for the sanctions listings of Russian businessman Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and Quren Salih Al Qadhafi, a former Libyan ambassador to Chad.
The U.S. is stepping up efforts to boost liquefied natural gas exports to Europe as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on, Jose Fernandez, a senior State Department official, said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing this week. He said he recently met with several European countries that are asking to buy more U.S. LNG.
The U.K. added 42 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and five entries to its Syria sanctions list in a pair of July 27 notices. The additions to the Russian sanctions regime consisted of 41 individuals and one entity. The listed parties include Vitaly Pavlovich Khotsenko, prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic; Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko; Graham Phillips, U.K. national and video blogger who "has produced and published media content that supports and promotes actions and policies which destabilise Ukraine"; and 29 Russian regional governors.
The EU extended its sanctions regime on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine for another six months, until Jan. 31, the European Council announced July 26. In 2014 in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, the restrictions were expanded following this year's invasion to include various sectoral sanctions with bans placed on finance, energy, technology, dual-use goods and luxury goods, among other things.
The EU added four individuals and one entity to its Syria sanctions regime, the European Council announced. The sanctions move addresses the Syrian state's efforts to provide support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Added were Saleh Al-Abdullah, a high-ranking military official; Wagner Group-supervised Sanad Protection and Security Services and co-owners Ahmed Khalil Khalil and Nasser Deeb Deeb; and Issam Shammout, Cham Wings airline owner.
The Commerce Department is prioritizing work to strengthen its export controls and investment restrictions, particularly with allies, Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves said, speaking during a July 25 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said the U.S. is continuing to rethink the existing multilateral control regimes and believes the global sanctions response to Russia has set a precedent for how democracies could respond to similar aggression by other countries in the future.
The U.K.'s Westminster Magistrates Court on July 18 amended two account freezing orders (AFO) issued by the National Crime Agency against two companies that were managing the financial and security needs of sanctioned Russian oligarch Petr Aven, the EU Sanctions blog reported. Aven led Russia's largest commercial bank Alfa Bank until March. In June, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation granted a basic needs license on behalf of Aven for funds to be paid to and from the accounts under the AFOs. While the court said the AFO and OFSI regimes held different purposes, it found it appropriate to vary the terms of the AFOs to be consistent with the terms of a basic needs license granted by OFSI to Aven, the blog post said.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq are sending more crude oil to Europe to boost the region's oil refineries in an effort to aid the pivot away from Russian oil. Over 1 million barrels a day of crude oil -- a number that has doubled from a year ago -- has crossed into Europe from the Middle East in the first three weeks of July through a pipeline that crosses Egypt, data compiled by Bloomberg reported July 22. Most of the oil shipments into Europe are from Saudi Arabia, where companies can deliver the oil via the SuMed pipeline or on smaller ships through the Suez Canal. Iraq is sending its oil via the Suez Canal, with 1.2 million barrels a day being shipped toward the canal from the Persian Gulf in the first three weeks of July, Bloomberg said.