The European Council on Sept. 9 fully suspended the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia, the council announced. As a result, the general rules of the visa code will apply to Russian citizens, leading to a jump in the visa application fee from around $35 to $80, the requirement to present further documentary evidence, increased visa processing times and more restrictions on the issuance of multiple-entry visas, the council said. The decision will enter into force Sept. 12.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation requested that all individuals who hold or control funds belonging to a designed individual or entity submit a report on the details of those assets by Nov. 11. The request comes as part of OFSI's annual review of frozen assets. Any individual or entity that has previously reported frozen assets also must submit a report. The value of such assets as of the close of business Sept. 30 is to be included in the report.
The European Commission released a report to the EU Parliament this month on the implementation of dual-use items in 2021, which included aggregated export control data from 2020. The report discusses export control policy, amendments to dual-use controls, EU member state implementation and enforcement measures, arrangements for implementation laid out in the Northern Ireland Protocol, actions taken by the Dual-Use Coordination Group, guidelines for dual-use research, and data on export controls.
Three months out ahead of a full European ban on Russian oil imports (see2208040013), the EU is still consuming large amounts of Russian oil, Bloomberg reported Sept. 5. Russia is sending around 1 million barrels of oil a day to the EU since early August -- up from late-July marks but down greatly from the peaks in April and June, Bloomberg said. To ensure compliance, European purchases of oil cargo will slow at least a month before the ban comes into force Dec. 5, but if the ban is to cover exports, the move would hit global supplies, Bloomberg said. The publisher said shipments of all Russian crude reached a four-week high in the week ended Sept. 2. Total Russian seaborne crude shipments rose to 3.32 million barrels a day in this seven-day run -- a mark that jumped up from 2.95 million a day the previous week.
Dockworkers at Liverpool's container port will go on strike Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 over a pay dispute, the Unite union said in a statement. Over 560 port operatives and maintenance engineers were offered a 7% pay raise, which the dockworkers say is a pay cut given the 12.3% "real rate of inflation." The port owner also failed to fulfill 2021 promises, including not carrying out a promised pay review and failing to deliver on an agreement to boost shift rotations, the Sept. 2 statement said. Peel Ports, the owner of the Port of Liverpool, said its pay package would have boosted pay by 8.3%.
The U.K. amended one entry and corrected another under its Russian sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a Sept. 6 notice. The entry for Mikhail Razvozhaev, acting "Governor of Sevastopol," was updated to include his full name and alternate spelling of his last name: Mikhail Vladimirovich Razvozhayev. The entry for Pavel Ezoubov, an associate of listed Russian businessman and oligarch Oleg Deripaska, was corrected, with OFSI fixing the spelling of Ezoubov's name in Russian.
The European Commission on Sept. 1 adopted two reports -- one on the screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) and one on the Export Controls Regulation, it said Sept. 2. The commission said it analyzed over 400 FDIs into the EU in 2021 to ensure that none of the money threatened EU countries' security, and found all but two EU member states have implemented screening mechanisms or are in the process of putting them in place. The commission carried out its FDI screening quickly, with 86% of assessments being completed within 15 calendar days, the commission said.
A call between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's top trade official, covered what the U.S. characterizes as "supply chain vulnerabilities," but the EU and U.S. readouts of the Sept. 1 call characterized the discussion differently.
The U.K. dropped one entry from its Iraq financial sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a Sept. 2 notice. Iraqi national Sahir Berhan, who was designated in February 2004, was delisted.
The U.K. amended one entry and corrected another under its Russian sanctions regime, in a Sept. 2 notice. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for MCST JSC, an information, communications and digital technologies company, that is involved in obtaining a benefit for the Russian government. OFSI also corrected the entry for OOO Volga Group, a Russian investment company.