The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added 26 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and amended another 30 in yet another sanctions move against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The listed individuals include military officials, businessmen and relatives of listed individuals, such as Oleg Belozyorov, chief executive of Russian Railways; Nikolay Bodanovsky, a Russian army officer; Igor Korotchenko, chairman of the Russian Defense Ministry Public Council; and Boris Obnosov, executive at Tactical Missiles Corp.
Although the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council is helping to foster important cooperation, it may be unintentionally leaving out other vital trade partners on a range of key issues, including export controls, said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She said the TTC may be emphasizing the U.S.-EU relationship too much when the two sides should be doing more to convince other countries to adopt similar sanctions and export restrictions against Russia.
The Biden administration should “employ all tools necessary” to stop Chinese-owned Nexperia’s acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), a U.K.-based chip facility, the Republican-led China Task Force said in a letter to the White House released April 21. If the acquisition is completed, the U.S. should remove the U.K. from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. white list and impose strict export controls on shipments to NWF, the House members said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on April 21 suspended the export privileges of another Russian airline for violating U.S. export controls against Russia. The agency issued a 180-day temporary denial order for Moscow-based cargo aircraft carrier Aviastar, which will limit the airline’s ability to deliver goods to Russia’s military, BIS said. Aviastar will be barred from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU General Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the sanctions listings on former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family members Gamal Mubarak, Alaa Mubarak, Heidy Rasekh, Khadiga El Gammal and Suzanne Saleh Thabet. The European Court of Justice had annulled the sanctions listings for Mubarak's family made in 2016 and 2017 and the 2018 listing of Mubarak himself. In March 2021, the EU reversed its Egypt sanctions, lifting restrictions on nine individuals. The General Court's April 6 ruling drops the sanctions imposed in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The court said it was unclear whether prior to implementing the sanctions, the European Council had fulfilled its duty to verify that the rights of defense and effective judicial protection were respected for the parties or that the council's actions were inadequate.
The Commerce Department held a stakeholder roundtable April 19 for the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council with speakers from U.S. industry, academia and think tanks. Commerce officials heard from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Georgetown University, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and others. The U.S. and the EU are scheduled to hold another TTC meeting in May, which will include discussions on Russia-related export controls (see 2204130045).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 issued guidance for holders of credit cards issued by sanctioned Russian financial institutions. The agency said U.S. operators of credit card systems are blocked from processing transactions involving certain sanctioned foreign financial institutions unless exempt by OFAC. Foreign operators of credit card systems whose payment cards are issued by sanctioned banks also risk violating U.S. sanctions if they allow those cards to be used in the U.S., OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 sanctioned more than 40 people and entities -- including Russian commercial bank Transkapitalbank -- for operating a sanctions evasion network. The agency also issued two new general licenses authorizing certain transactions with the bank and sanctioned a range of companies for operating in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on April 21 suspended the export privileges of another Russian airline for violating U.S. export controls against Russia. The agency issued a 180-day temporary denial order for Moscow-based cargo aircraft carrier Aviastar, BIS said in an emailed news release, adding that the order will “hinder” the airline’s ability to deliver military cargo to Russia. Aviastar will be barred from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. BIS earlier this month issued temporary denial orders for Russian airlines Aeroflot, Azur Air and UTair.
The U.K.'s more than $3.5 million fine of an unnamed British company over illegal exports of military goods (see 2204040020) lacks transparency, U.K. law firm Macfarlanes said in an April 19 post. The U.K.'s enforcement agency hasn't released any information about the violations that led to the fine despite it being the "largest penalty ever for breach of U.K. arms controls," the firm said.