The State Department released the details of its "sweeping actions" against Russian defense enterprises. The March 3 announcement lists 22 Russian defense-related entities "critical to Russia’s war effort." The blocked entities produce a wide variety of Russian military equipment, from drones, to vehicles, to electronic warfare components. OFAC will add them to the Specially Designated Nationals list. All property and interests in property of the entities in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. In addition, the announcement contained details about sanctions on Russian elites following an announcement by the White House (see 2203030073). OFAC will add the listed individuals and companies to the SDN list.
Federal prosecutor Andrew Adams will lead Task Force KleptoCapture, the interagency group set up to enforce U.S. sanctions against Russia (see 2203020044), Attorney General Merrick Garland announced March 3. Speaking to the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, Garland also discussed steps DOJ is taking to enforce its recent wave of sanctions measures. Adams is co-chief of the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit for the Office of U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, per his LinkedIn profile. Adams has led various asset forfeiture and organized crime cases, touched off by his leadership of a team in 2015 that recovered a Stradivarius violin stolen in 1980, Reuters reported. He also led the prosecution of alleged Russian crime syndicate leader Razhden Shulaya.
The U.K. added two more oligarchs to its Russia sanctions regime following their country's invasion of Ukraine, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a March 3 notice. Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, listed as having close ties to the Kremlin and "significant interests" in the U.K., were added to the sanctions list.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week added South Korea to the list of countries that have imposed similar export controls against Russia and are excluded from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s two recently issued foreign direct product rules (see 2202240069). BIS added South Korea to the list because it has committed to “implement substantially similar export controls on Russia and Belarus under its domestic laws,” the agency said March 4. The list, found under supplement No. 3 to part 746 of the Export Administration Regulations, already includes more than 25 countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan and many European nations. The addition of South Korea took effect March 4.
The U.S. last week imposed new export controls on Russia’s oil refinery sector and added 91 entities to the Entity List for supporting Russian security efforts, building on a string of trade restrictions (see 2202240069 and 2203020072) meant to cut Russia off from importing goods to support and fund its military.
Daniel Pickard, previously an international trade partner at Wiley, joined Buchanan Ingersoll as the chair of its International Trade and National Security practice group, the firm announced. Pickard deals with matters concerning trade remedy investigations, including antidumping and countervailing duty and safeguard cases; U.S. economic sanctions; anti-bribery cases; export controls; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and national security, the firm said. His national security practice deals with export controls and anti-boycott proceedings.
The State Department is accepting applications for its Defense Export Controls and Compliance System 2022 User Group, which will provide feedback to the agency on DECCS functionality and suggest potential improvements. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will appoint 50 industry volunteers to the user group, all of whom must be enrolled with DECCS and represent companies, government agencies or third-party organizations involved in defense trade. Member terms will last one year. Applicants should email PM_DDTCProjectTeam@state.gov by close of business March 10 with name and company or government affiliation. DDTC will make its selections by March 31.
The U.S. charged American citizen John "Jack" Hanick with violating U.S. sanctions on Russia related to Russians promoting separatism in Crimea in 2014 via his work for sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. Hanick was arrested on Feb. 3 in London and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the sanctions charge and five years in prison for a false statements charge. The criminal indictment is the first stemming from the 2014 Russia sanctions regime.
China Tech Threat, a consultant-owned organization that advocates for stronger export controls, urged the Senate to speed up the confirmation process for Alan Estevez to lead the Bureau of Industry and Security. The group said Estevez will bring “extensive national security background to the role at a critical time as China’s ambitions to dominate emerging technology markets pose a serious threat to U.S. economic and national security interests.” The vacancy for BIS undersecretary leaves a “glaring hole in our export control regime,” the organization said, noting that it has been more than five years since the agency last had a confirmed undersecretary.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against the Zimbabwean government, the White House said March 3. The emergency was extended for one year to March 6, 2023.