The Office of Foreign Assets Control will allow payment of certain taxes and import fees to Russia despite the sanctions imposed on the Russian central bank, national wealth fund and Ministry of Finance on Feb. 28 (see 2202280021). General License 13 authorizes payments of "taxes, fees, or import duties," as well as the purchase or receipt of "permits, licenses, registrations, or certifications" through 12:01 a.m. June 24. Russia's Federal Customs Bureau is part of its Ministry of Finance. The licence was issued March 2 along with General License 14, which authorizes certain activities by an entity that has the "sole function in the transaction" of acting as an "operator of a clearing and settlement system" with certain Russian financial institutions.
The Biden administration needs more funding to bolster its sanctions and export controls targeting Russia, the White House told Congress this week. The administration specifically asked for more resources for the Bureau of Industry and Security as it enforces dual-use export restrictions and more staff and funding for the Treasury Department for “sanctions targeting.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued more sanctions on Russian elites and their families who "provide direct and indirect support to the Government of the Russian Federation" by identifying certain property of these persons as blocked. The designees include Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, Nikolay Burhanovich Tokarev, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and their families. The sanctions were done "in close coordination with the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, the ROK, and Australia," according to the OFAC annoucement.
Keeping pace with the multinational sanctions being imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine has become a difficult but necessary task for lawyers and businesses, said sanctions and international trade lawyers at Crowell & Moring on a March 2 briefing hosted by the firm. The sanctions are already remarkably complex, totaling over 1,200 pages of new regulations, and more are expected. This marks the "fastest moving sanctions regime that we have seen," said Dj Wolff, a partner at the firm.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added Russian sanctions regulations to implement a sweeping April 2021 executive order that authorized new designations against people and companies operating in Russia’s defense and technology sectors, involved in attempts to influence foreign elections and more (see 2104150019). The added regulations, which took effect March 1, are in an “abbreviated form” so OFAC can provide “immediate guidance to the public.” The agency intends to add more regulations, which could include guidance on various definitions and general licenses.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four individuals March 1 as part of its counterterrorism efforts. Abdella Hussein Abadigga, Farhad Hoomer, Peter Charles Mbaga and Siraaj Miller were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
New sanctions on the Russian Central Bank, Ministry of Finance and two Russian investment funds announced Feb. 28 are the “most significant action” the Treasury Department has ever taken against an economy the size of Russia, said a senior administration official that day. “We're doing exactly what we said we’d do,” the official said during a call with reporters. “We said all options are on the table, including the most severe sanctions ever contemplated against Russia.”
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control placed five additional Russian officials, 44 entities and five vessels on sanctions lists. The move follows OFAC's Directive 1A issued Feb. 22.
The Office of Foreign Asset Control on Feb. 28 issued a new directive that blocks certain transactions with the Central Bank of Russia, the Russian National Wealth Fund, and the Russian Ministry of Finance. OFAC also designated the Russian Direct Investment Fund -- which the agency called a "key" sovereign wealth fund -- along with its CEO, Kirill Dmitriev. OFAC also designated RDIF's management company and one of the managing company’s subsidiaries. By blocking these entities, OFAC said it is "terminating yet another route through which Russia has benefitted from access to the U.S. financial system."
The U.S. is imposing additional sanctions and new export controls following Russia's "further invasion of Ukraine," as promised by President Biden in his Feb. 22 speech (see 2202220003). The sanctions cover financial restrictions on Russian state-owned enterprises, banks, and individuals, while the export controls set restrictions on a variety of high-tech products. The new measures are part of an "unprecedented level of multilateral cooperation" according to the White House.