Seven non-EU nations imposed sanctions measures adopted by the EU over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said March 3. The countries are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway imposed the EU's host of most-recent sanctions on Russia. Except for Liechtenstein, the same countries implemented the EU's Feb. 24 sanctions decision on Belarus, which extended the restrictions for another year and amended the sanctions entries for many of the listed individuals.
The G-7 countries and the EU said they plan to impose more sanctions against Russia and Belarus as long as Russia continues its military invasion of Ukraine. Although several “far-reaching economic and financial sanctions” have already been imposed, “further severe sanctions” are on the way, the foreign ministers of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the EU said in a March 4 statement. The leaders also stressed to the Russian and Belarusian people that the sanctions are a “consequence” of the actions of their government. “President [Vladimir] Putin, and his government and supporters, and the [Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko] regime, bear full responsibility for the economic and social consequences of these sanctions,” the statement said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Hezbollah financiers in Ghana. OFAC said in a March 4 press release that it is designating Ali Saade and Ibrahim Taher. All property and interests in property of Saade and Taher, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly 50 percent or more by them that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC.
The State Department released the details of its "sweeping actions" against Russian defense enterprises. The March 3 announcement lists 22 Russian defense-related entities "critical to Russia’s war effort." The blocked entities produce a wide variety of Russian military equipment, from drones, to vehicles, to electronic warfare components. OFAC will add them to the Specially Designated Nationals list. All property and interests in property of the entities in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. In addition, the announcement contained details about sanctions on Russian elites following an announcement by the White House (see 2203030073). OFAC will add the listed individuals and companies to the SDN list.
Federal prosecutor Andrew Adams will lead Task Force KleptoCapture, the interagency group set up to enforce U.S. sanctions against Russia (see 2203020044), Attorney General Merrick Garland announced March 3. Speaking to the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, Garland also discussed steps DOJ is taking to enforce its recent wave of sanctions measures. Adams is co-chief of the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit for the Office of U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, per his LinkedIn profile. Adams has led various asset forfeiture and organized crime cases, touched off by his leadership of a team in 2015 that recovered a Stradivarius violin stolen in 1980, Reuters reported. He also led the prosecution of alleged Russian crime syndicate leader Razhden Shulaya.
The U.K. added two more oligarchs to its Russia sanctions regime following their country's invasion of Ukraine, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a March 3 notice. Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, listed as having close ties to the Kremlin and "significant interests" in the U.K., were added to the sanctions list.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week added South Korea to the list of countries that have imposed similar export controls against Russia and are excluded from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s two recently issued foreign direct product rules (see 2202240069). BIS added South Korea to the list because it has committed to “implement substantially similar export controls on Russia and Belarus under its domestic laws,” the agency said March 4. The list, found under supplement No. 3 to part 746 of the Export Administration Regulations, already includes more than 25 countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan and many European nations. The addition of South Korea took effect March 4.
The U.S. last week imposed new export controls on Russia’s oil refinery sector and added 91 entities to the Entity List for supporting Russian security efforts, building on a string of trade restrictions (see 2202240069 and 2203020072) meant to cut Russia off from importing goods to support and fund its military.
Daniel Pickard, previously an international trade partner at Wiley, joined Buchanan Ingersoll as the chair of its International Trade and National Security practice group, the firm announced. Pickard deals with matters concerning trade remedy investigations, including antidumping and countervailing duty and safeguard cases; U.S. economic sanctions; anti-bribery cases; export controls; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and national security, the firm said. His national security practice deals with export controls and anti-boycott proceedings.
The State Department is accepting applications for its Defense Export Controls and Compliance System 2022 User Group, which will provide feedback to the agency on DECCS functionality and suggest potential improvements. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will appoint 50 industry volunteers to the user group, all of whom must be enrolled with DECCS and represent companies, government agencies or third-party organizations involved in defense trade. Member terms will last one year. Applicants should email PM_DDTCProjectTeam@state.gov by close of business March 10 with name and company or government affiliation. DDTC will make its selections by March 31.