The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed a temporary denial order on Russia's Rossiya Airlines, saying the company has continued to illegally operate planes in violation of U.S. export controls, including on flights between Russia and China and Russia and Kyrgyzstan. The agency renewed the denial order for one year from Nov. 5. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in May 2022 (see 2205200008) and has renewed the order multiple times. The order blocks Rossiya from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The U.K. on Nov. 7 sanctioned Denis Sergeev, a senior officer in the Russian Military Intelligence Service, for his ties to Russia's use of chemical weapons. The U.K.'s said Sergeev was involved in the attempted 2018 Novichok nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury, England, of a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week extended two Venezuela-related general licenses, one that renews the current authorization for certain transactions with state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela and another that delays an exemption that would authorize certain transactions with PdVSA.
Recent revisions to the EU’s dual-use export control list were officially published Nov. 7 and take effect Nov. 8, according to a document published in the Official Journal of the EU. The changes, previewed in September (see 2409100030), add and remove certain controlled items, change certain control parameters and revise technical definitions and descriptions, including to reflect updates made by multilateral export control regimes during 2023. The EU published a summary of the changes earlier this year.
The U.S. wants to remove more export barriers faced by the commercial space industry even after announcing a set of space-related export control reforms in October, a senior official said this week, adding that the effort could continue under the incoming Trump administration.
Six Democratic and Republican senators urged the Biden administration last week to again designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), citing the Yemen-based group’s attacks on commercial ships, U.S. forces deployed overseas and Israel, and its obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries to Yemeni civilians.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last week to explain whether the U.K.-based consulting firm, which has a large presence in the U.S., has provided consulting services for China-based clients that were on the Defense Department’s 1260H list of Chinese military companies, the Treasury Department’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List or the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Rubio included his question in a letter raising concerns about PwC’s ties to China. PwC had no immediate comment on the letter.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Nov. 6 he’s pleased the U.K. is reportedly preparing to reimpose sanctions on Iran for violating its nuclear weapons-related obligations. McCaul said the snapback of U.N. sanctions on Iran is "vital" now because the mechanism that authorizes them is set to expire.
Asia-based companies should make sure they’re doing enough due diligence to take into account heightened Western focus on Russia-related sanctions evasion, Ropes and Gray said in a Nov. 5 client alert, particularly because of their “geographical proximity” to Russia. The firm pointed to guidance on sanctions evasion recently released by the Group of 7 nations (see 2409250004), adding that Asian companies “are at higher risk for diversion as Russia is ever more reliant on complex transnational structures to circumvent sanctions and procure critical technology and manufacturing components” for its weapons.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Prointer ITSS general director Vladimir Perisic and Elpring d.o.o. Laktasi for their ties to a “corrupt patronage network” that supports the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the country’s sanctions evasion attempts. OFAC said President Milorad Dodik and his son use Perisic and others to control private companies that are awarded government contracts, including Elpring.