The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on April 13 amended or corrected entries for four businesspersons under its Russia sanctions regime. OFSI amended the entry for Tatiana Evtushenkova to add address information, and corrected information in the entries for Felix Evtushenkov, Natalia Evtushenkova and Nariman Gadzhiev.
European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said last week that with the staggering costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the invasion and indiscriminate shelling and bombing by Russian forces, the EU is doing legal analysis on how it could use "confiscated Russian assets," whether seized or frozen, to help pay for Ukraine's reconstruction.
The European Commission on April 14 renewed the antidumping duties on stainless steel tube and pipe butt-welding fittings from China and Taiwan for another five years, following an expiry review investigation. The proceeding showed that allowing the duties to lapse would harm the EU pipe fittings industry, the commission said. The duties range from 5.1% to 12.1% for Taiwan, and from 30.7% to 64.9% for China.
The European Council added the Wagner Group and RIA FAN to its Russia sanctions regime, subjecting them to an asset freeze. While the Wagner Group, a Russia-based private military entity, already was subject to sanctions under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the EC designated the group for leading the attacks against Soledar and Bakhmut in Ukraine. RIA FAN is part of the Russian media company Patriot Media Group and disperses pro-Russian propaganda, the EC said.
The U.K. updated its industry guidance on its Russia maritime services ban and oil price cap, noting the cap will stay under review and will be updated subject to the agreement of the Oil Price Cap Coalition. It also explains that, for the maritime services ban, a person supplying or delivering goods by ship includes a person who owns, controls, charters or operates a ship on which those goods are being carried from or to which those goods are being transferred, the EU Sanctions blog said April 12.
The Netherlands is moving toward ending all liquefied natural gas imports from Russia, Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten told Bloomberg. Without announcing the decision, the government has stopped signing new LNG import contracts from Russia this year and is working on drawing down existing contracts, Jetten said. The move applies to both spot and long-term deals and could affect the rest of Europe given the Netherland's role as a transit nation for gas supplies, Bloomberg reported April 12. “We have to do what we can do to make sure there is no Russian fossil energy in our system, and we have been successful on coal, pipeline gas and oil,” Jetten said, adding that he is having numerous talks with the companies using the facilities to wind down preexisting LNG deals.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a notice April 12 adding 10 people and four entities to its Russia sanctions regime. The new designations target various Russian business and banking executives and other people with ties to Russia, including Felix Evtushenkov, Tatiana Evtushenkova, Natalia Evtushenkova, Nariman Gadzhiev, Demetris Ioannides, Gulnara Kerimova, Oksana Marchenko, Vladimir Skoch, Varvara Skoch, Christodoulos Vassiliades. The four entities are Curzon Square Ltd., Hanley Ltd., Meritservus HC Ltd. and USM Holdings Ltd. OFSI also amended the entry for Nikolay Bortsov, member of Russia's State Duma.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed until Oct. 28 its legal services General License under the Russia sanctions regime (see 2210310020), the EU Sanctions blog reported this week. The renewed license, which was set to expire April 28, will again cap legal fees at $621,000, including value-added taxes, and will cap legal expenses at 5% of legal fees up to $31,000. The renewed license, which the blog said was outlined in a recent "letter to stakeholders" from the government, also clarifies that it is applicable in certain cases in which the "fees and / or expenses may exceed the legal fees and / or expenses caps." The license will not authorize legal fees for "defamation and similar cases," the blog said.
The European Commission updated its Russia sanctions FAQs on "export-related restrictions for dual-use goods and advanced technologies." According to the EU Sanctions blog, the FAQs were amended to show that the restrictions bar transit via the territory of Russia of dual-use goods and technology shipped from the EU. The new FAQs also update the Correlation Table that links prohibited goods with their Combined Nomenclature (CN) commodity codes.
The U.K. amended or corrected two entries under its Russia sanctions list and another under its Cyber sanctions list, according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The entry for Volodymir Vasilyovich Saldo, founder of the Salvation Committee for Peace and Order in Kherson, was amended to add his address. The entry for Vladimir Konstantinovich Markov, manager for Gazprom, had a correction made to his date of birth. Under the Cyber sanctions list, OFSI amended the entry for Vitaliy Nikolayevich Kovalev to clarify use of an alias.