The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York last week charged Russian oligarch Andrey Kostin, along with Russian national Vadim Wolfson of Austin, Texas, and U.S. citizen Gannon Bond of Edgewater, New Jersey, with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by providing "funds, goods, and services" to Kostin, a sanctioned party, it said in a news release. (U.S. v. Andrey Kostin, S.D.N.Y. # 24-00091).
The Biden administration and Congress should wield a wide range of tools to choke off Iran’s oil exports, which are fueling Tehran’s support for terrorist groups, a former State Department official said Feb. 28.
The leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to strengthen biotechnology export controls to preserve U.S. leadership in the critical sector.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 29 updated a general license that authorizes certain transactions with Venezuela’s flagship airline. General License 45B, which replaced License 45A, updated and removed language relating to the types of transactions that are authorized with Venezuela’s Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos, also known as Conviasa.
Companies should continue to see more Chinese additions to the U.S. Entity List this year, although Russia sanctions likely will continue to dominate the government’s time and resources, trade lawyers said this week.
The State Department fined Boeing $51 million after the company allegedly violated a range of U.S. export controls, including license requirements for exports to China and Russia. The violations, which Boeing voluntarily disclosed, included illegal exports to foreign employees and contractors working in more than 15 countries; a trade compliance specialist fabricating an export license to illegally ship defense items abroad; and violations of the terms and conditions of other export licenses, among other things.
Neena Shenai, former senior legal director and chief counsel for global trade at medical technology giant Medtronic, has joined WilmerHale as a partner in the international trade, investment and market access practice group, the firm announced. Shenai's practice will center on economic sanctions, export controls and issues pertaining to global market navigation, the firm said. Before joining Medtronic, Shenai also worked as trade counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee during 2011-15.
The EU General Court last week rejected Belarusian nitrogen compound producer Grodno Azot's application for delisting from the EU's sanctions regime on Belarus.
The Agriculture Trade Caucus asked the administration to negotiate market-access trade agreements, saying it needs "to proactively engage and secure enforceable, high-standard agreements with our trading partners to ensure our farmers and ranchers can compete globally on a level playing field."
Australia this week sanctioned seven Russian prison officials responsible for the “mistreatment” of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in the prison earlier this month. Australia's foreign affairs ministry said it used its Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions authority to impose the designations (see 2112220008 and 2203290005).