EU officials have agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said Feb. 19. The measures will include more import and export restrictions, “tighter anti-circumvention measures,” and a “stronger crackdown” on Russia’s shadow fleet -- the ships Moscow uses to transport sanctioned goods. “The EU must remain united against the aggressor,” Dombrovskis said on social media platform X.
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DOJ charged an Ohio-based subsidiary of a Russian aircraft parts supplier and three of its current and former employees with illegally exporting aircraft parts from the U.S. to Russia and Russian airline companies, DOJ announced.
The U.K. added three people and two entities to its Russia sanctions list on Feb. 14. The individuals are Artem Yuryevich Chaika, who was listed for owning or controlling extractive company First Non-Metallic Company; Pavel Mikhailovich Fradkov, deputy minister of the Ministry of Defense; and Vladimir Viktorovich Selin, head of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control. The entities are Joint Stock Company Kirov Energomash Plant and LLC Rosatom Additive Technologies.
Former President Joe Biden's administration made the most “aggressive and far-reaching use” of trade tools of any U.S. administration in history, and the new Trump administration is on track to “wield these tools in an even more aggressive manner,” Gibson Dunn said in a 2024 international trade recap released this month. Although the Treasury Department under Biden imposed sanctions at a faster rate than any of his predecessors, the law firm noted that President Donald Trump favors tariffs, which could cause the targets of those tariffs, including U.S. trading partners in Europe and Asia, to deploy similar tools “either in retaliation against U.S. measures or in pursuit of their own strategic interests.”
A new European Parliament briefing published this week analyzes the state of EU sanctions against Russia, including developments last year and possible next steps that the bloc could take to increase pressure against Moscow.
The European Commission this week issued new guidance with an updated list of territories that are “temporarily occupied” by Russia and subject to certain sanctions and trade restrictions. The list, published by Ukrainian authorities, is meant to help traders and other EU “operators” determine which areas in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are subject to restrictions because they’re under control by Russia instead of by Ukraine. “Considering the fluid situation, a dynamic assessment of this control could be necessary,” the commission said. “In case of doubt, EU operators can reach out to their national competent authority.”
The U.S., the U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned Zservers, a Russia-based internet infrastructure service provider, for supporting Russian ransomware attacks, the Treasury Department said. Treasury said Zservers specifically aids Russia-based LockBit, which the U.S. has called one of the world’s most active ransomware groups (see 2405070020).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Sergei Zharnovnikov, a Kyrgyzstan national, was charged this week with illegal smuggling and conspiring to illegally export firearms from the U.S. to Russia. Zharnovnikov, who faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, traveled to the U.S. last month for the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, where he was arrested.