The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation March 28 issued a general license allowing certain wind-down transactions and insurance-related transactions with certain vessels managed by sanctioned shipping company Active Denizcilik ve Gemi Isletmeciligi Anonim Sirketi. The license also authorizes certain transactions between Active Denizcilik and insurers that help the company's vessels reach their port of discharge or a safe port to discharge cargo that was onboard as of March 28. The license expires June 11.
A new list published last week by the Bureau of Industry and Security names more than 150 entities that have asked companies to boycott goods from certain countries. BIS hopes the list helps “raise awareness” among companies, financial institutions, freight forwarders and others about where boycott requests may come from, allowing them to better comply with the agency’s anti-boycott regulations, said Matthew Axelrod, the BIS assistant secretary for export enforcement.
Latvian citizen Oleg Chistyakov was charged with violating U.S. export laws as part of a scheme to ship "sophisticated avionics equipment" to Russian companies, DOJ announced last week. The agency noted Chistyakov is the third person to be charged in connection to the scheme, which was led by Kansas company KanRus Trading Co.
A U.S. government official didn’t say for sure whether the Treasury Department will allow a general license involving Venezuela’s state-owned energy company to expire next month, but suggested companies should expect it to lapse if the Venezuelan government doesn’t soon reverse its crackdown on political opposition members.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is expecting to soon finalize its proposed rule on License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization and is close to publishing new U.S. persons controls to restrict activities that support foreign military, security or intelligence agencies, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.
The Census Bureau is hoping to publish a notice seeking public comments on its long-awaited routed export control rule before the upcoming presidential election, a Commerce Department official said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to expand its validated end-user program, which it hopes will allow more U.S. exporters to sell products to credible foreign customers without having to first apply for a license, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week published an updated freight forwarder guidance, outlining forwarders’ compliance responsibilities, the red flags they should be monitoring and a set of best practices they should follow when they’re involved in an export. The agency also issued a new version of its “Don’t Let This Happen to You” document, which includes new summaries and case examples of recent export control investigations.
The U.K. on March 27 amended Svetlana Alexandrovna Krivonogikh's listing under the Russia sanctions regime. Krivonogikh is a shareholder of Russian bank Bank Rossiya, which is a "significant stakeholder in National Media Group," which controls major TV stations in Russia that "promote the destabilisation of Ukraine." Her entry was amended to provide a new national identification number.
The U.K. High Court of Justice on March 27 ruled that VTB Commodites, the commodities wing of sanctioned bank VTB Bank, doesn't have "any right of redemption" in escrow payments in a dispute over the ownership of vacuum gas oil (VGO) cargo.