The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order this week against two Russian nationals, their Florida company, a Maldives business and a Russian airline for a scheme to illegally supply aviation parts to Russia. Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin used their Florida-based company MIC P&I to try to export to Russia more than $2 million worth of U.S. aircraft components, including Goodrich brake assemblies, in a procurement network that went through Intermodal Maldives and eventually to Russia’s JSC Smartavia Airlines.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides confirmed he received information from the U.S. government related to Cypriot individuals and entities subject to U.S. sanctions for helping Russian billionaires hide their assets. The U.S. provided an 800-page dossier concerning the parties that helped Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov hide his wealth, The Guardian reported. Christodoulides said he received the first batch of this information and is awaiting two more information packages from the U.S., according to an unofficial translation of a speech last week. Christodoulides promised to move forward with prosecutions of law and audit firms that aided this sanctions evasion.
President Joe Biden last week renewed a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against Yemen. Actions and policies of certain former members of the Yemeni government and others continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year from May 16.
The Group of 7 countries this week are planning to announce new sanctions and export controls against Russia, including measures to target sanctions evasion by third countries, Reuters reported May 14. The new measures, which are expected during the G-7 summit in Japan May 19-21, will seek to further limit Russia’s energy production and target trade that is supporting Russia's military, the report said. U.S. officials also expect G-7 countries to expand export controls over certain categories of goods so that “all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items,” the report said. The measures haven’t yet been finalized. The White House didn’t comment.
Following a recent DOJ settlement with General Motors, U.S. employers should make sure they’re not inadvertently considering export control compliance concerns in a way that discriminates against certain people during their hiring process, Barnes & Thornburg said in a May client alert. The firm said U.S. companies should “carefully review their written policies and procedures” to make sure they “adequately address compliance” with the Immigration and Nationality Act “when assessing whether employees require access to export-controlled information.” Human resource managers “should be particularly sensitive to these issues when hiring and onboarding new employees.”
The U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council could soon begin prioritizing China issues over Russia, which has dominated much of the group’s time since it was established in 2021, said Frances Burwell, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. She also said the TTC should focus more of its energy on investment screening, particularly as both sides consider a new tool to screen certain outbound investments (see 2305110033).
Caitrin McKiernan, former attorney with Shearman & Sterling, joined Steptoe & Johnson's Hong Kong and New York offices as a partner in its Investigations and White-Collar Defense Practice. McKiernan's practice will center on "multijurisdictional compliance reviews and internal investigations, crafting compliance policies, providing proactive compliance counseling, and leading interactive compliance training," the firm said. McKiernan also will aid companies seeking to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, economic sanctions and export controls, the firm said.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued guidance last week for people seeking a license to release frozen funds for travel and associated expenses. OFSI said "associated expenses" could arise from "attending legal meetings or court hearings." When administering licenses for these payments, OFSI "is legally obliged to ensure that those expenses are 'reasonable,'" OFSI said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed the temporary denial order for Russia's Rossiya Airlines, saying the company has continued to illegally operate planes in violation of U.S. export controls, including on flights into and out of Russia going to and from Egypt and Turkey. The agency renewed the denial order for another 180 days from May 12. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in May 2022 (see 2205200008) and renewed the TDO in November (see 2211170050).
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill last week that could expand sanctions on Syria's Bashar Assad regime and close “loopholes” in existing sanctions. The Assad Anti-Normalization Act would sanction members of Syria’s People’s Assembly and senior officials of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and would “clarify the applicability” of sanctions to Syrian regime airlines and certain energy-related transactions. It also would expand the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act by “plugging loopholes” that “made it hard to enforce,” including by expanding Caesar Act sanctions on those involved in diverting humanitarian aid meant for the Syrian people.