Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week urged China to join other countries in standing up to Russia, saying Beijing risks alienating itself from the global economy if it continues to sit out the conflict. Although the U.S. hasn’t yet seen evidence that China is helping Russia evade U.S. sanctions or export controls, Beijing hasn’t condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine and could still hand Moscow an economic lifeline, which would be met with U.S. secondary sanctions and strong export restrictions (see 2203080053, 2203140009 and 2203140009).
Russia’s war on Ukraine has greatly accelerated U.S. and EU collaboration on export controls, officials said, even surpassing some of the short-term goals of the Trade and Technology Council formed last year. Because of the highly coordinated controls, officials from both sides speak frequently and are able to discuss a range of shared export control issues, the officials said, including enforcement, licensing and the future of multilateral regimes.
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.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t yet announced any enforcement actions against lessors or financers of restricted Russian aircraft, those parties still face significant compliance risks, Katten said in an April 8 alert.
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The U.K. revised its general license under its Russia sanctions regime permitting the provision of technical assistance, financial services and funds, and brokering services for certain vessels. The updated license includes aircraft and aeroengines and the provision of insurance services for aviation under the license, the Export Control Joint Unit said. The license came into effect April 5 and requires anyone seeking to rely on the license to register via the U.K.'s SPIRE export licensing system within 30 days of the first use of the license.
Russia imposed sanctions on members of the Australian and New Zealand governments in an April 7 retaliatory move, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to an unofficial translation. The sanctioned parties include New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Gov.-General Cynthia Kiro, and Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as well as hundreds of members of their respective governments. The listed parties are barred from entering Russia.
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 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.
A new House bill would allow the U.S. to block and sanction certain crypto exchanges if they facilitate transactions with Russia-based addresses. The Russian Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Act of 2022, introduced by House Democrats April 6, would be a “significant step towards” restricting crypto exchanges from “providing services for Russia-based cryptocurrency wallets,” the lawmakers said. The bill also would authorize sanctions against anyone that the Treasury Department determines “to be significantly and materially facilitating digital asset transactions in violation of sanctions.” The bill is a companion to Senate legislation introduced in March.