Eight countries aligned with the European Union's decision to add one individual to its Libya sanctions regime, the European Council said Jan 31. The council on Dec. 13 added Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov to the sanctions list due to his position in the Wagner Group, a Russia-based private military entity (see 2112130009). Kuznetsov, commander of the Wagner Group's 1st Attack and Reconnaissance Co., was injured in Libya while fighting alongside the Libyan National Liberation Army in 2019, the council said. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Georgia also imposed sanctions on Kuznetsov -- a move welcomed by the EU, the council said.
The U.N. Security Council on Jan. 28 amended one Libya-related entry on its sanctions list. The UNSC revised identifying information for Saadi Qadhafi.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven people and two entities connected to Myanmar's military, the agency said Jan. 31. The sanctions target KT Services & Logistics Co., which operates the TMT Port in Yangon and leases it from the U.S.-sanctioned Myanmar Economic Holdings, and the Directorate of Procurement of the Commander-In-Chief of Defense Services, which buys arms and equipment for the country’s military. OFAC also designated government officials Thida Oo, Tun Tun Oo and Tin Oo, along with Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, Tay Za, Htoo Htet Tay Za and Pye Phyo Tay Za, all of whom have ties to business dealings with the government.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 31 removed a vessel from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency deleted the Oman Pride crude oil tanker, a Liberia-flagged vessel sanctioned last year for being operated by Bravery Maritime, a company owned by Iranian oil shipper Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi (see 2110290024 and 2108130041). OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information.
Lawmakers submitted a host of amendments to the House’s recently released China competition bill, including measures that would introduce new export controls and sanctions authorities and requirements. One submission, a 115-page amendment from Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, would create more congressional oversight of the Commerce Department’s emerging and foundational technology control effort and calls for expanded export restrictions against Chinese military companies.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is hoping to expand the number of officers it sends overseas and increase collaboration with other investigative agencies, partly to help with a larger workload and a rise in new export control evasion trends. Agents said BIS has seen a steady increase in work since the enactment of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, which has been made more complex by the rise in cryptocurrency schemes, increasingly sophisticated uses of front companies and ransomware attacks.
Switzerland designated seven individuals and three entities as part of its Nicaragua sanctions regime, following the EU, which listed the same parties Jan. 10. The listed individuals are Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo and Laureano Facundo Ortega Murillo, advisers to the president; Brenda Isabel Rocha Chacon, Supreme Electoral Council (SEC) president; Cairo Melvin Amador Arrieta, SEC vice president; Lumberto Ignacio Campbell Hooker, SEC member; Nahima Janett Diaz Flores, director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Services (TELCOR); and Luis Angel Montenegro Espinoza, superintendent of the Superintendency of Banks and other Financial Institutions of Nicaragua.
The U.S. should build a “consortium” of like-minded countries to collaborate more closely on semiconductor export controls to counter China and its coercion of Taiwan, the Center for a New American Security said in a Jan. 27 report. The consortium would also coordinate other “punitive actions,” such as investment screening, to counter “Chinese economic and political aggression.”
Saber Fakih of the United Kingdom pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to illegally exporting and attempting to export an industrial microwave system (IMS) and counter-drone system to Iran, the Department of Justice said. Fakih also admitted conspiring with Bader Fakih of Canada; Altaf Faquih from the United Arab Emirates; and Alireza Taghavi of Iran. Fakih's actions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulation, DOJ said Jan. 27.
In her first public remarks since joining the Bureau of Industry and Security, Thea Kendler said BIS has been constantly looking for new emerging technologies that should be subject to controls and is close to publishing its first foundational technology rule. Kendler, who was confirmed last month as assistant secretary for export administration, also said she plans to prioritize multilateral export controls that protect American technology from China’s military and wants to work closely with industry so those controls don’t harm U.S. competitiveness.