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EU Council Prolongs Individual Sanctions Against Russia for a Further Six Months: On September 12, the EU Council decided to prolong measures targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for another six months, until 15 March 2025. The existing sanctions include travel restrictions for natural persons, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed individuals and entities. Sanctions will continue to apply to over 2200 individuals and entities. Read more >> and Read more >>
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EU Discusses Russia Sanctions Circumvention with Industry Executives: On September 10, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness chaired a roundtable with senior executives from key EU companies trading in Common High Priority items. Participants discussed how EU industry, in close cooperation with governments and EU institutions, could engage in a trust-based partnership to tackle the circumvention of EU sanctions on sensitive goods. They also shared perspectives on compliance risks, best practices against circumvention, the protection of EU know-how and intellectual property from misuse abroad, and ways to tackle smuggler networks and illicit actors. Read more >>
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European Commission Updates Its FAQs on Sanctions Against Russia: The updated Frequently Asked Questions on sanctions against Russia issued in September 2024 cover the following sanction topics: asset freeze and prohibition to make funds and economic resources available (Council Regulation 269/2014) and provision of services (Article 5n of Council regulation 833/2014). Read more >> and Read more >>
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Latvian Court Seeks Preliminary Ruling on Notion of ‘Associated Person’: A request for a preliminary ruling from the Latvian Supreme Court (Augstākā tiesa, Senāts) lodged on July 9, 2024, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. The referring court is seeking clarification on the concept of 'associated person' within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Regulation 269/2014. In particular, the referring court is asking whether a legal person must be regarded as an associated legal person if 50% of its shares belong to a legal person and the beneficial owner of the latter is a natural person appearing on the list in the annex to Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/336, implementing Regulation 269/2014. Read more >>
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Croatian Court Seeks Preliminary Ruling in Dispute Involving Gazprom:A request for a preliminary ruling from the Croatian High Commercial Court lodged on June 10, 2024, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. The request concerns an ongoing dispute around the security of a claim and the potential transfer of EUR 35 million from an EU-based commercial company to a Russian company. Read more >>
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EU's Court of Justice Interprets EU Prohibition on Legal Advisory Services to Russian Entities: By its judgment of September 5, the Court of Justice ruled that a notary does not breach the sanctions against Russia when he or she authenticates the sale of a property owned by an unlisted Russian company. The Court held that by authentication, a notary does not provide legal advisory services, but acts independently and impartially in the context of a function entrusted to him or her by the State. Read more >>
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EU's Court of Justice Rules that Confiscation of the Entire Proceeds from Brokering Military Equipment to Russia is Permitted: By its judgment of September 10, the Court of Justice ruled that the prohibition on providing brokering services in relation to military equipment to an operator in Russia applies even if those goods were never imported into a Member State. The Court also considered that EU law permits the automatic confiscation of the full amounts received in relation to the provision of brokering services concerning military equipment to an operator in Russia. Admittedly, this limits the provider’s right to property over those amounts. Nevertheless, the Court observed that such a limitation is appropriate in order to ensure that the prohibition in question is effective and, consequently, proportionate in principle in the light of the legitimate objectives pursued by the European Union, that is, the protection of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. Read more >>
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EU's General Court Upholds Council’s Power to Impose Reporting and Cooperation Obligations: By its judgment of September 11, the General Court dismissed actions brought by the parties concerned in cases T-635/22 Fridman and Others and T-644/22 Timchenko and Timchenko against the Council regulation laying down obligations to report funds and to cooperate with the competent national authorities. The General Court recalled that EU law permits the adoption of regulations by the Council in order to implement or give effect to restrictive measures so as to ensure their uniform application in all Member States. The Council was entitled to adopt reporting and cooperation obligations, even though they were not expressly provided for in the decision to which they relate. Read more >> and Read more >>
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EU's General Court Confirms EU Sanction Against the Russian Finance Company NSD: By its judgment of September 11, the General Court dismissed NSD’s action against acts by which its name was included and maintained on the lists of persons subject to the restrictive measures. In response to NSD’s argument that the sanctions imposed on it entailed the freezing of funds and economic resources belonging to its customers – who are not subject to those measures – and, therefore, the infringement of their right to property, the Court recalled that NSD cannot rely, in its action for annulment, on a right to property that it does not hold. However, the Court observed that when examining a request for the release of those customers’ assets, under a derogation laid down by the Council for that purpose, the national authorities must ensure that the interference with the right to property of the customers concerned follows the conditions laid down in Article 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Read more >>
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EU's General Court Annuls the Sanctions Listing of Maya Tokareva, Pavel Ezubov and Andrey Anatolyevich Kozitsyn: By its judgments of September 11, the General Court annulled the designation of Maya Tokareva and Pavel Ezubov. By its judgment of September 1, the General Court annulled one of the acts maintaining Andrey Kozitsyn listing. Read more >>, and Read more >>
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EU's General Court Dismisses Actions Against EU Sanctions Brought by Belaruskali AAT, Belarusian Potash Company AAT and Ivan Golovaty: By its judgments of September 18, the General Court dismissed three actions against EU sanctions brought respectively by Belaruskali AAT, a major Belarusian potash producer, Ivan Golovaty, its director-general, and Belarusian Potash Company AAT, its exporting entity. Read more >>, Read more >> and Read more >>
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EU's General Court Dismisses Action Against EU Sanctions Brought by Several Individuals: By its judgments delivered in September, the General Court dismissed several actions brought by Igor Albertovich Kesaev, Kirill Shamalov, a Russian businessman OT, Marina Alexandrova Mordashova, and Musa Yusopovich Bazhaev. Read more >>, Read more >>, Read more >>,Read more >>, Read more >> and Read more >>
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Two Suspects Agree on a Settlement after Suspicion of Violations of Sanctions: Two suspects representing company based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, have agreed on a settlement with the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands after the company paid out approximately 18 million euros in dividends to a Russian company that was hiding an individual subject to EU sanctions. Read more >>
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EU Weighs Expanding Sanctions on Exports to Russia: The EU is considering extending its sanctions regime against Russia to include the foreign subsidiaries of European companies in order to restrict the flow of sensitive goods reaching the country’s war machine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed 14 packages of sanctions against Moscow. These include export controls to stop Moscow procuring goods crucial to its war effort. The EU has also banned re-exports of certain sensitive goods via third countries. But discussions on further rounds of sanctions, which have to be agreed unanimously by all 27 member states of the EU, have become increasingly fraught as countries find fewer areas on which they can agree without damaging their own economies. Read more >>
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EU Member States Sharing Border with Russia Discuss Implementation of EU Sanctions: On September 17, five EU Member States Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland held their third meeting on sanctions cooperation. The meeting addressed specific measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus. Participants also discussed the possibility to impose additional restrictive measures. Read more >>