Russia/Ukraine Sanctions

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Since February 21, 2022, the United States has joined a coalition of countries imposing sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. New US sanctions and export controls are wide ranging and complex, significantly impacting trade and related financial transactions between the US and Russia, as well as Belarus.  They also affect transactions and exports from outside the United States in many areas of commerce. The following is a high-level overview of recent US legal developments as of March 8, 2022.

For more information on how these measures could impact your organization, contact a member of Steptoe’s Economic Sanctions and Export Controls teams.

Additional resources can be found on Steptoe’s “Sanctions against Russia: Implications for Business and International Trade” page.…

Continue Reading A Summary of New Ukraine-related US Sanctions and Export Controls on Russia and Belarus

On March 4, 2022, HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published an updated version of its Russia guidance and issued two new general licences permitting the wind down of positions with Sberbank and involving Bank Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, and VEB.  The UK government also put forward a series of amendments to the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill proponents say is needed to crack down on corrupt elites and ramp up pressure on President Putin’s regime.
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Continue Reading Update: OFSI Publishes Updated Russia Guidance; Issues New General Licences; and UK Amends Draft Economic Crime Legislation to Move “Harder and Faster” with Sanctions

On March 1, 2022, four new amendments to The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (Russia Regulations) were laid before parliament and came into immediate effect.  The amendments revise the financial and investment restrictions provisions contained in Part 3, Chapter 2 and the trade sanctions provisions set out in Part 5.  New restrictions also have been introduced banning Russian ships from UK ports under Part 6 and introducing restrictions on the provision of financial services for the purpose of foreign exchange reserve and asset management.
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Continue Reading Update: New UK Russia Sanctions Legislation Comes into Effect, Suspension of Export Licences for Dual-Use Items to Russia, Additional Designations and New General Licences

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has adopted a much more severe sanctions package against Russia than the measures adopted on February 23, 2022 (see our previous previous blog post). The new measures provide for various restrictions, including additional targeted restrictions against specified individuals; expanded financial measures aiming at cutting Russia’s access to the EU capital markets; trade restrictions targeting the energy and aviation sectors and banning most exports of dual-use items, as well as certain semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies from the EU to Russia.

The key aspects of the new sanctions imposed by the EU are summarized below. Unless otherwise specified, references to Annexes in the below overview refer to Annexes to Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (as amended or inserted by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/328 of February 25, 2022).…

Continue Reading Update: EU Adopts Far-Reaching Sanctions following Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The United States government has continued to impose numerous economic sanctions and export controls measures following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  On February 24, 2022, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) significantly expanded export controls applicable to Russia.  On February 25, 2022, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Russian President Vladimir Putin and others to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.  It also imposed significant economic sanctions measures targeting Russia’s financial system — including by imposing sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and limiting the ability of certain Russian state-owned and private entities to raise capital.  Together, OFAC’s actions, which were taken pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 14024 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are estimated to affect nearly 80 percent of all banking assets in Russia.

Finally, on February 26, 2022, the United States and European Union countries, together with the United Kingdom and Canada, announced an agreement to block certain Russian banks from access to SWIFT (with Japan also agreeing the following day), to impose sanctions on Russia’s Central Bank, and to limit the ability of certain Russian nationals connected to the Russian government to obtain citizenship in their countries. They further agreed to ensure effective transatlantic coordination in implementing sanctions, including by sanctioning additional Russian entities and persons, and by working together and with other governments around the world to identify and freeze sanctioned Russian assets.…

Continue Reading Biden Administration Imposes Sweeping Financial Sanctions, Export Controls after Russian Invasion of Ukraine

On February 21, 2022, the White House issued a new Executive Order (EO) imposing comprehensive sanctions on the disputed Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine following President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia would recognize the independence of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and place Russian military forces in those territories for purported peacekeeping operations.

The new EO prohibits:

  • new investment in the DNR or LNR by US persons, wherever located;
  • the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology from the DNR or LNR;
  • the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a US person, wherever located, of any goods, services, or technology to the DNR or the LNR; and
  • any approval, financing, facilitation, or guarantee by a US person, wherever located, of a transaction by a foreign person where the transaction by that foreign person would be prohibited if performed by a US person or within the United States.

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Continue Reading White House Announces First Sanctions after Russia Enters Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk Regions

Significant diplomatic capital has been invested by the EU, the United States, the UK and NATO in developing policies to deter Russia from invading Ukraine. Sanctions have been the main focus of discussion. EU Member States agreed in Council Conclusions that potential sanctions will include “a wide array of sectoral and individual restrictive measures that would be adopted in coordination with partners”, and UK Prime Minister Johnson stated before parliament that the UK and its allies are considering “imposing coordinated and severe sanctions, heavier than anything we have done before against Russia”.

However, what exactly such statements mean remains unclear. Furthermore, government officials have explicitly refused to give any information when asked about the details, and those who have given information did so under the condition of anonymity. To help companies plan ahead in light of such uncertainty and to help assess the risk of exposure to EU/UK sanctions, we outline below what EU/UK sanctions may be adopted, and key indicators that may influence both the severity and timing of such sanctions.…

Continue Reading Assessing Potential EU and UK Sanctions Against Russia

Join Steptoe’s Economic Sanctions team on Wednesday, February 9, at 10:30 a.m. ET, for a complimentary webinar in which we will explore the current policy and regulatory landscape related to potential economic sanctions targeting Russia.

Our lawyers will discuss the impact of specific instruments under consideration by US, EU, and UK officials, and address…

Economic sanctions and export controls will form a core part of any multilateral response to an escalation of Russia’s military actions targeting Ukraine. While it is not possible to predict with certainty whether an escalation will occur or what form the responsive measures would take, this blog post outlines some of the current US sanctions proposals and authorizations to assist companies in taking preliminary steps to assess their potential exposure.

As of January 2022, none of the United States, the EU, or the UK have implemented any new, significant Russia-related sanctions or export control measures concerning Russia’s recent military buildup near the Russia-Ukraine border. Based on events in 2014 and the sanctions that ensued, companies could face rapid and potentially disruptive regulatory restrictions with wide-ranging impacts on a variety of industries. Some measures could be imposed within hours of a triggering event, or even prior to a specific triggering event. The US, EU, and UK are likely to coordinate a sanctions response to some extent, but some variations across different jurisdictions’ sanctions measures are also to be expected.  According to reports, policymakers have yet to agree on the triggers for new sanctions, and diplomatic efforts are ongoing.…

Continue Reading Preparing for New Russia-Related Sanctions and Export Controls

On August 20, 2021, the Biden administration issued a new Executive Order (“EO”) entitled “Blocking Property with Respect to Certain Russian Energy Export Pipelines.”  At the same time, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) added five entities and 13 vessels to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”) under the new EO.

These developments – the latest in a series of US actions related to the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines – suggest that the United States is attempting to strike a balance between formally opposing the Nord Stream 2 project and cooperating with major allies who favor the pipeline’s completion, such as Germany.  Importantly, the sanctions under the new EO are not as incrementally significant as they may seem: of the 18 new SDNs, all but four (two entities and two vessels) were already subject to sanctions under the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019 as amended (“PEESA”), which were imposed in May 2021 and were virtually identical to the new sanctions.  Rather than reflecting a more aggressive US stance in opposition to Nord Stream 2, the new EO appears to be driven primarily by legal technicalities including a limitation on the sanctions that could be imposed under PEESA.…

Continue Reading A Pipeline Runs Through It: US Government Strikes Delicate Balance on Nord Stream 2 with New Executive Order, Four Sanctions Designations