President Trump has signed into law the countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, expanding US sanctions targeting Iran, Russia, North Korea and Syria.… Continue Reading
In February 2015, the UK Divisional Court referred questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling in the course of Rosneft’s judicial review proceedings challenging UK legislation that gives effect to EU sanctions against Russia. The questions referred concerned the interpretation and validity of Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP and Council Regulation (EU) 833/2014. In response to … Continue Reading
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced that Russia is set to remove on a gradual basis its economic sanctions against Turkey. The sanctions are to be lifted “gradually” to prevent any harm against Russian producers. Russia’s sanctions on Turkey restrict the import of certain Turkish goods, including fruit and vegetables, and tourism to Turkey.… Continue Reading
The Council extended the restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia until 23 June 2017. The sanctions measure target imports of products from Crimea or Sevastopol, investing in or providing tourism services in Crimea or Sevastopol, exporting certain goods and technologies to Crimean companies, or providing technical assistance … Continue Reading
The EU has renewed its economic sanctions against Russia for a further six months until 31 January 2017. These sanctions, which were due to expire on 31 July 2016, include restrictions on Russia’s energy industry and financial sector, as well as restrictions on dual-use exports and arms embargo. A comprehensive review of the sanctions, including … Continue Reading
Russia has renewed its embargo on food imports from several of the countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia, until 31 December 2017. The countries include Member States of the EU, the US, Canada, Australia, Norway, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Ukraine. Russia first introduced the embargo in 2014 as a counter-measure to sanctions imposed by western governments in protest … Continue Reading
The US Department of Justice announced the sentencing of Alexander Brazhnikov Jr. to 70 months in prison in connection with the shipment of controlled electronic components that were ultimately supplied to Russian military and security forces in violation of US export control laws. Brazhnikov Jr. also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of US$65 million.… Continue Reading
Russia – Hacking Allegations; FBI Investigates. Last week, law enforcement officials reported the FBI and Justice Department are investigating a hack of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign computers, along with their investigations into previously-reported cyber intrusions of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Some U.S. officials suggested last week that there is strong evidence indicating the DNC … Continue Reading
North Korea – Money Laundering Designation. Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated North Korea as a jurisdiction of “primary money-laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday. This will allows Washington to further limit North Korea’s access to the U.S. financial system. Under the new designation, non-U.S. banks … Continue Reading
Exporters with these licences will now be able to export unpopulated printed circuit boards and wiring harnesses, connectors and fasteners and related components for military and dual-use goods. Exports to several countries, including Russia, Iran, North Korea and China, are not covered. However, both licences will still attract the standard OGEL obligations; exporters must register to use the licences, … Continue Reading
Nordic Leaders Summit. In a joint statement released after their meeting last Friday, the leaders of the United States, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden pledged to deepen cooperation on international issues related to security and defense; migration and refugees; climate, energy and the Arctic; and economic growth and global development. The Leaders stressed the … Continue Reading
The changes include the revision of the goods schedule to reflect, amongst other things, goods due to be decontrolled following regime meetings in 2015 and changes to the EU Dual-Use List in December 2015. Russia and Syria have now been added to the excluded destinations list and some terms and conditions have also been modified. Dependent on whether goods … Continue Reading
On 10 March 2016, the EU renewed economic sanctions against 146 Russian individuals and 37 entities selected for “undermining the territorial integrity or stability of Ukraine.” The measures, previously due to expire on 15 March 2016, will now remain in place for an additional six months until 15 September 2016. They were implemented by way of adoption of Implementing … Continue Reading
Saturday, 16 January 2016, marked Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between the E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, UK and US, in conjunction with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran). On Implementation Day, the International … Continue Reading
The Senate was in session last week, while the House of Representatives (“the House”) remained in recess in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday. Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran took effect, as did a prisoner swap last week. Washington’s attention then quickly shifted to an impending historic … Continue Reading
Frank Samolis, co-leader of our International Trade Practice chaired and presented at two conferences regarding recent trade developments in TPP and TTIP in early November. The first of two conferences was in Moscow, where Frank discussed the future of TTIP, in particular for the Russian and Eurasian markets. He commented, “We covered many of the … Continue Reading
On November 12th, International Trade Practice Co-Chair Frank Samolis was quoted in a Bloomberg BNA article titled “Russia Criticizes ‘Secrecy’ Around TTIP Negotiations.” In the article, Frank explains the unlikelihood of a final conclusion on TTIP before Obama leaves office. The entire article can be accessed at Bloomberg BNA by subscription. … Continue Reading
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the convictions of Alexander Posobilov, Shavkat Abdullaev and Anastasia Diatlova for conspiring to export, and illegally exporting, controlled microelectronics to Russia in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Separately, the DOJ also announced the sentencing of Mozaffar Khazaee … Continue Reading
Council Decision (“CFSP”) 2015/1764 amends the EU Russia sanctions to exclude certain operations relating to use of launchers operated by European launch service providers, or for the use of launches of European space programs, or for the fueling of satellites by European satellites manufacturers. The amended restrictive measures against Russia allow the European space industry … Continue Reading
On 16 September 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed Decree No. 549/2015 issuing new economic sanctions targeting persons and entities supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea and aggressions in the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine. The decree, which is effective for one year, applies sanctions against 388 individuals and more than 105 entities, the preponderance being … Continue Reading
President Putin has signed a decree calling for the destruction of western food imports. This follows a ban imposed by Russia earlier in the year in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the EU and US. The ban on imports covers fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese.… Continue Reading
The guidance notes that although the sanctions may engender additional procedural steps, they do not prevent parties from referring their arbitral disputes to EU-based institutions. The paper observes that “these sanctions do not result in a substantial change in the administration of arbitral proceedings”. However, it cautions that there are situations where an arbitration involves … Continue Reading
Montenegro and Albania both aligned themselves with the Decisions of the Council to extend the sanctions in place in response to the “illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol” and in respect of the situation in Ukraine. EFTA countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, have followed suit and extended their own sanctions regimes to match the extended … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, 14 July 2015, the E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to … Continue Reading
