On 29 December 2018, the Russian Prime Minister signed Resolution No. 1716-83 implementing an import ban with respect to the Ukrainian goods. The import ban was introduced within the framework of the Russian countersanctions against Ukraine adopted under Presidential Decree No. 592 dated 22 October 2018.
On December 19, 2018, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) submitted a letter to congressional leaders (“Congressional Letter”) notifying Congress of its intent to terminate the sanctions imposed on En+ Group plc (“En+”), UC Rusal plc (“RUSAL”), and JSC EuroSibEnergo (“ESE”) in 30 days. On the same day, OFAC announced new sanctions against a number of individuals and entities for their involvement in a range of malign activities. Concurrently, the US Department of State announced it had added 12 individuals and entities to the List of Specified Persons under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”) for being part of, or operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sector of the Russian Federation.
On 21 December 2018, the Council announced that it prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2019.
This decision follows an update from President Macron and Chancellor Merkel to the European Council of 13-14 December 2018 on the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements, to which the sanctions are linked. Given that no progress has been made, the European Council took the political decision to roll-over the economic sanctions against Russia.
On 22 October 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree calling for countersanctions against Ukraine and instructing the Russian Government to draw up a list of companies and individuals that will be subject to economic restrictions under the new measures and also a list of the respective restrictions.
On October 12, 2018, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) further extended by one month until December 12, 2018 the expiration dates of three general licenses related to EN+ Group plc and United Company RUSAL PLC (“RUSAL”). RUSAL is one of the world’s largest aluminum producers and was previously designated as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) on April 6, 2018 for being owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the EN+ Group and the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska. Please see our blog post on the original designation here. The Treasury Department press release indicates that the extension reflects still ongoing discussions with EN+ and RUSAL regarding substantial corporate governance changes that could significantly reduce Deripaska’s control. Today’s move is a welcome further temporary reprieve for the global aluminum industry as RUSAL seeks to extricate itself from the impact of US sanctions.
On October 5, 2018, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a document [Public Notice 10579] providing notice that State had determined, pursuant to Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA) Section 231(a), that the Chinese entity Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission (EDD), formerly known as the General Armaments Department (GAD), has knowingly, on or after August 2, 2017, engaged in a significant transaction with a person that…
On September 26, 2018, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. 180910826-8826-01] that amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding fourteen entities to the Entity List. These fourteen entities have been determined by the US Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States and will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of Belarus, Iran, Russia, and Singapore.
In September, the US Government took several significant steps related to the US sanctions against Russia sanctions. This included imposing sanctions pursuant to Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Act (“CAATSA”) for the first time and expanding the list of persons and entities identified as being part of the Russian defense or intelligence sectors under CAATSA Section 231. The US Government also clarified the scope of a sanctions waiver impacting foreign subsidiaries in Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (the “CBW Act”). Finally, the US Government extended the expiration dates for several general licenses related to United Company RUSAL PLC (“RUSAL”) and EN+ Group PLC (“EN+ Group”).
On 4 September 2018, the Kyrgyz Republic notified the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards that the competent authority of the Eurasian Economic Union initiated on 7 August 2018 a safeguard investigation on certain flat-rolled steel products.
UK Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, started his three-day visit to the US the week of 20 August by calling on the EU to follow the US in imposing sanctions on Russia in response to the Salisbury nerve agent attack that happened earlier this year.