A U.K. appeals court last week granted an injunction blocking a Gazprom subsidiary from suing its lenders in a Russian court over an abandoned gas project. The England and Wales Court of Appeal said it was the proper place to bring RusChemAlliance's claim against Germany-based Deutsche Bank, adding that there was no good reason not to impose the injunction.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 13 expanded its general sanctions license covering payments to utility companies for gas and electricity by sanctioned parties who own or rent in the U.K. Originally set to expire on Oct. 16, the license no longer has an expiry date, the agency said. Additionally, the agency amended the license to allow a person to make permitted payments for or on behalf of a designated party.

The EU's top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, said EU and U.S. negotiators haven't given up on their Oct. 31 deadline to address both non-market overcapacity in steel and aluminum and ways to privilege trade in cleaner metals.

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU sanctions decision on those who undermine Ukraine's sovereignty, the European Council announced. On Sept. 14, the council renewed for six months, until March 15, the sanctions regime. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.

Switzerland added five Russian companies to its sanctions list to align with the EU's decision to add the entities in September, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The five companies -- RT Balkan, Oriental Review, New Eastern Outlook, Katehon and Tsargrad -- are Russian broadcasters.

Fifteen trade groups in the U.S. and the EU, led by a German machinery manufacturing organization, are asking the EU and the U.S. to settle their differences over American tariffs on steel and aluminum, and if they cannot by the end of the year, "at the very least, ensure that tariffs will not be reimposed if an agreement is not reached by the January 2024 deadline, even if this means that the deadline is extended." Technically, the two sides gave themselves an Oct. 31, 2023, deadline, but said that even if a deal was not reached by then, tariffs could not return until January 2024.

The European Council on Oct. 9 extended its sanctions regime on Nicaragua until Oct. 15, 2024. The restrictions apply to 21 people and three entities involved either in "serious human rights violations or abuses," the repression of civil society or in actions that undermine democracy and the rule of law in the Central American nation.

The European Council on Oct. 9 introduced a new sanctions regime covering people and entities that threaten the "peace, stability or security of Sudan," including those that bar the political transition in the African nation. The restrictions also apply to parties that obstruct the delivery or distribution of humanitarian aid or engage in acts that constitute serious human rights abuses.

The European Council on Oct. 9 extended until Oct. 16, 2026, its sanctions regime addressing the proliferation and use of chemical weapons for another three years. The council also extended the "existing restrictive measures" against people and entities sanctioned under the regime for another year until Oct. 16, 2024. The restrictions currently apply to 25 people and three entities.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 6 removed Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti from its Iraq sanctions regime. The move follows the U.N.'s decision last week to remove sanctions from al-Tikriti, an Iraqi national and governor of the Basrah province (see 2310060021).