The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 23 will add 26 companies and people to the Entity List for trying to buy controlled U.S. items for China’s military, evade sanctions against Russia, supply sensitive goods to Iran or Pakistan, or for evading U.S. end-use checks, the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 21. BIS will also remove two entities from the list and update the address information for another entity.
The U.S. and 10 other countries are creating a new Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team to report on North Korea sanctions violations and evasion after Russia earlier this year vetoed a U.N. Security Council proposal that would have extended the “panel of experts” that had been monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
The U.K. on Oct. 17 added Russian energy company Rasgazdobycha JSC to its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI added the company for supporting the Russian government by conducting business in an area of strategic significance, namely, the energy sector.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three entities and one person it said are involved in the development and production of Russia’s Garpiya series long-range attack drones, which Moscow uses in its war against Ukraine.
A new U.K. general license authorizes certain transactions with sanctioned parties involving U.K. government debt. The license, issued Oct. 14, allows certain payments "in respect of UK Government Debt where either the legal holder or the direct or indirect recipient or beneficiary of that payment is a UK" sanctioned or "prohibited" party, "provided the payments are held in Frozen Accounts or UK Prohibited Persons Accounts." The license defines "prohibited" parties as people and entities subject to certain sanctions against Russia or Belarus, and it defines "UK Government Debt" to mean "all securities issued by, or on behalf of His Majesty's Government in respect of money borrowed by His Majesty's Government."
The Council of the European Union on Oct. 14 added five people and one entity to its Moldova sanctions regime for actions related to Russian attempts to destabilize the country. The sanctions include the governor of the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, as well as other officials in the territorial unit. The council also listed Evrazia, a Russia-based group "whose goal is to promote Russia's interests abroad," along with its director and founder Nelli Parutenco.
The Council of the European Union on Oct. 14 added seven people and seven entities to its Iran sanctions list as a response to Iran's recent transfer of missiles and drones to Russia (see 2409160005). The additions include three Iranian airlines and two procurement companies that transfer and supply the drones and missiles through "transnational procurement networks" to be used in the war in Ukraine. Two propellant manufacturers were also sanctioned. The individuals include the deputy defense minister of Iran, various Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps officials and the managing directors of Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries and Aerospace Industries Organization.
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Western policymakers should sharpen their approach to economic sanctions to avoid the kinds of mistakes that have limited the impact of such measures against Russia, according to a recent paper released by the Brookings Institution.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control declined to renew two Russia-related licenses that had authorized certain transactions related to Russia’s Moscow Exchange, National Clearing Center and National Settlement Depository (see 2406120036), warning in guidance last week that it planned to let the licenses expire 12:01 a.m. EDT Oct. 12.