Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued four decrees imposing sanctions on 141 individuals and 49 entities relating to Russia's State Duma elections in the occupied areas of Ukraine, multiple Ukrainian airlines and Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 for Crimea and Sevastopol. The declarations -- 556, 557, 558 and 559 -- were approved by the National Security and Defense Council Oct. 15 and were issued by Zelensky Oct. 30. The restrictions can include an asset freeze, travel ban, restrictions on trade transactions, and the suspension of economic and financial obligations, the defense council said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added four technology companies in Israel, Russia and Singapore to the Entity List for “acting contrary” to U.S. foreign policy and national security through “malicious cyber activities,” BIS said in a notice released Nov. 3. The companies either operate or supply technologies in the cyberintelligence and information security sectors and will be subject to a license review policy of presumption of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. No license exceptions will be available for controlled exports to the four companies. The additions are effective Nov. 4.
The trial involving Danish fuel supply Dan-Bunkering and its parent company Bunker Holding kicked off on Oct. 26, EU Sanctions reported. Denmark in 2019 charged Dan-Bunkering with violating the European Union's Syrian sanctions regime by selling jet fuel to Syria. Between 2015 and 2017, around 172,000 tons of jet fuel were allegedly sold to Russian companies and shipped to Syria using intermediaries, EU Sanctions said.
Switzerland added eight people to its Russia sanctions list, aligning with the European Union, the Swiss Federal Council said. The listed individuals, according to a notice from the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, are Mikhail Nikolaevich Belousov, Kievskiy District Court judge; Andrey Nikolaevich Dolgopolov, chairman of the Kievskiy District Court; Yevgeniy Sergeevich Kolpikov, military prosecutor; Magomed Farmanovich Magomedov, special cases investigator; Leonid Vladimirovich Mikhailiuk, head of the Federal Security Service in Crimea and Sevastopol; Viktor Anatolyevich Mozhelianskiy, vice chairman of the Central District Court in Simferopol; Galina Vladimirovna Redko, Crimea Supreme Court judge; and Vladimir Nikolaevich Terentev, who heads the main investigation department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The eight were listed due to their role in undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released the texts of six previously issued Ukraine-related General Licenses. The licenses are GLs 16, 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D and 16E. The licenses authorized certain transactions with Russian companies EN+ Group PLC and JSC EuroSibEnergo. The first five have expired, the sixth was revoked. The U.S. removed sanctions from both companies in 2019 (see 1905150064).
The Treasury Department presented the results of its monthslong sanctions review (see 2107200024, 2107060012 and 2106220037) to the Senate Banking Committee Oct. 19, detailing how it hopes to better coordinate designations with trading partners and establish more modern, effective sanctions regimes. Although some senators applauded the agency’s commitment toward revising its sanctions approach, others questioned Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo about what they said have been several U.S. sanctions failings, including the administration's policies toward Nord Stream 2 and China’s reported purchases of Iranian oil.
Industry should expect a “surge” in corporate enforcement from the Department of Justice now that officials have had time to transition from the previous administration, particularly in sanctions and export control areas, Crowell & Moring said Oct. 12. The firm expects a “heavy focus” on trade violations involving Iran, China, North Korea and Russia, and continued focus on cryptocurrencies, including enforcement that targets illegal ransomware activities and payments (see 2110130038). The firm also noted that the U.S. has devoted more resources to foreign bribery enforcement, including recently assigning a squad of FBI agents to work full time in the DOJ’s Fraud Section, which will help the agency’s investigative efforts.
The U.S. and more than 30 other countries are meeting virtually this week to discuss how to better counter and disrupt ransomware attacks, including through sanctions, the White House said Oct. 13. The meetings come less than a month after the U.S. sanctioned SUEX, a large virtual currency exchange, for helping to facilitate transactions related to illegal ransomware attacks (see 2109210031). The White House said the Treasury Department “will continue to disrupt and hold accountable these ransomware actors and their money laundering networks,” and the meetings this week could be a forum for discussing multilateral actions.
The European Union sanctioned an additional eight individuals for “actively supporting actions and implementing policies that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the European Council said Oct. 11. These eight individuals include judges and prosecutors responsible for enforcing Russian law in Crimea and Sevastopol, the council said. The total number of sanctioned parties is 185 individuals and 48 entities.
Ukraine imposed sanctions on 95 individuals and four entities relating to the Russian elections in occupied territories of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an Oct. 5 decree, according to an unofficial translation. The listings include candidates for the Russia State Duma party and members of the election commissions. Seven operatives of the Russian Federal Security Service allegedly responsible for poisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny were also designated, according to the first annex to the decree: Alexey Alexandrov, Vladimir Panyaev, Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov, Vladimir Mikhailovich Bogdanov, Kirill Vasilyev, Stanislav Valentinovich Makshakov and Alexei Semenovich Sedov. The U.S. and the United Kingdom sanctioned the seven in August (see 2108200017).