The U.S.’s new Russia export controls could lead to a short-term spike in license applications, but volumes will likely taper off later this year as businesses divest from Russia, said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former senior U.S. export control official.
South Korea announced additional sanctions March 7 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to an unofficial translation. The South Korean government said it is joining the international community's sanctions moves by placing restrictions on Russia's Central Bank and sovereign wealth fund along with Rossiya Bank.
Several European countries not in the EU continued to follow the bloc's lead, imposing the sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said March 4 in a series of three notices. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine all imposed the slate of sanctions, which include restrictions on Russia's Central Bank and hundreds of individuals and entities. The council's notices announce the alignment of these countries on freezing Russian banks from SWIFT, the global interbank messaging system; sanctioning Russia's sovereign wealth fund; banning two Russian state-owned media outlets from broadcasting in the EU; and expanding sanctions to many Russian officials and key entities (see 2203020008).
The Biden administration is considering lifting some oil sanctions against Venezuela to help decrease oil prices that have risen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported March 6. U.S. officials met with Venezuelan officials in Caracas this past weekend to discuss allowing Venezuelan oil back into the open market, the report said. Under the proposal, the U.S. would ease its sanctions against Venezuela for a “limited period,” which would redirect Venezuelan oil exports out of an "opaque China-bound export network and back to Gulf Coast refiners that process the heavy crude Venezuela produces,” according to the report. The proposal would also help to isolate Russia from Venezuela, its closest South American ally. The White House didn’t comment.
South Korean officials said they plan to continue imposing "swift and effective" export controls against Russia following the addition of their country to the U.S.'s list of nations that align closely with the U.S.'s trade restrictions against Russia. South Korea was added to the list March 4, which excludes it from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s two recently issued foreign direct product rules (see 2202240069 and 2203040075). “Korea is closely aligned with the U.S. and the global coalitionto [impose] export control measures and economic sanctions against Russia's military aggression,” Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in a March 7 news release emailed by the Commerce Department.
As global trade restrictions against Russia continue to increase, some companies are grappling with whether to fully exit the Russian market or rely on sanctions screening and temporary carve-outs to keep their operations afloat, lawyers and experts said in interviews this month. But the risks for a majority of businesses are quickly becoming too high, especially as sanctions are expected to grow more punishing.
The Biden administration should close a sanctions “loophole” that allows Russian nationals to continue making “significant” deposits at U.S. banks and purchases of U.S. securities, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said. He said the move would more closely align U.S. financial restrictions with those imposed by European allies and help cut off all access to the U.S. financial system for Russian elites who are “currently still able to keep sizable assets safe in the U.S. market.”
Seven non-EU nations imposed sanctions measures adopted by the EU over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said March 3. The countries are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway imposed the EU's host of most-recent sanctions on Russia. Except for Liechtenstein, the same countries implemented the EU's Feb. 24 sanctions decision on Belarus, which extended the restrictions for another year and amended the sanctions entries for many of the listed individuals.
The G-7 countries and the EU said they plan to impose more sanctions against Russia and Belarus as long as Russia continues its military invasion of Ukraine. Although several “far-reaching economic and financial sanctions” have already been imposed, “further severe sanctions” are on the way, the foreign ministers of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the EU said in a March 4 statement. The leaders also stressed to the Russian and Belarusian people that the sanctions are a “consequence” of the actions of their government. “President [Vladimir] Putin, and his government and supporters, and the [Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko] regime, bear full responsibility for the economic and social consequences of these sanctions,” the statement said.
The State Department released the details of its "sweeping actions" against Russian defense enterprises. The March 3 announcement lists 22 Russian defense-related entities "critical to Russia’s war effort." The blocked entities produce a wide variety of Russian military equipment, from drones, to vehicles, to electronic warfare components. OFAC will add them to the Specially Designated Nationals list. All property and interests in property of the entities in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. In addition, the announcement contained details about sanctions on Russian elites following an announcement by the White House (see 2203030073). OFAC will add the listed individuals and companies to the SDN list.