UK Fines Wine Competition Company for Violating Crimea-Related Sanctions
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation assessed Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition Ltd. a fine of more than $32,000 for violating sanctions pertaining to Ukraine, OFSI said in a Sept. 27 report. The penalty pertains to the company's receipt of three payments and 78 wine bottles from a designated entity which were entered into competitions from 2017 to 2020, the total value of which is estimated to be around $4,200. HKIWSC did not make any prior disclosures in the case over these payments and wine, leading to OFSI applying the full penalty amount. The sanctions agency said that it is confident that the company "either knew or had reasonable cause to suspect that it was in breach of those prohibitions."
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In particular, HKIWSC violated the U.K.'s sanctions regime pertaining to individuals and entities that undermine Ukraine's sovereignty. Under this list, the State Unitary Enterprise of the "Republic of Crimea" Production-Agrarian Union (Massandra) was sanctioned in 2014, since it was confiscated by the Russian-backed Crimean authorities. HKIWSC received a payment from Massandra in 2020, leading to OFSI's investigation, in which it found five instances of sanctions breaches that could be subject to the monetary penalty: four related to payments and bottles of wine sent in for submission, and one involving publicity made available to Massandra, which could be used as a monetary asset to exchange or in exchange for funds. The investigation resulted in the $32,000 penalty, which was appealed and upheld after review.