Sanctions Desk
The recent outbreak of international conflicts has triggered an expansion of sanctions regimes, with a significant impact on the shipping industry.
Sanctions may target individuals and entities operating in the port and maritime sector, as well as vessels involved in illegal activities. They include import and export bans; restrictions on transport, insurance, and brokerage services; price limitations (e.g. oil price cap) and reporting requirements (e.g. for the sale of oil tankers) for trade of listed goods.
Sanctions compliance is not only of utmost importance for all maritime stakeholders, since a sanction breach can have significant legal, financial, and reputational consequences, but also a major challenge considering the constantly changing regulations.
Through this Sanctions Desk and thanks to our extensive expertise in shipping, we aim to assist our Clients in complying with the new regulations by providing regular updates and legal analysis on sanctions impacting the shipping industry. Our team is also available to advise maritime operators on the drafting of relevant clauses and to represent them in any disputes regarding sanctions.
KEY CONTACTS:
Pietro Palandri
pietro.palandri@mordiglia.it
Chiara Raggi
chiara.raggi@mordiglia.it
Pietro Sanna
pietro.sanna@mordiglia.it
Camilla Del Re
camilla.delre@mordiglia.it
Lucy Nusbaumer
lucy.nusbaumer@mordiglia.it
Amendment of the notion of ‘ownership’ for the purposes of the application of sanctions and asset freezing measures
On 3 July 2024, the EU Council updated the EU Best Practices for the effective implementation of restrictive measures.
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The EU Best Practices contain guidelines for the interpretation and application by EU authorities and operators of sanctions imposed by the EU against natural and legal persons. They provide clarification on the designation and the de facto identification of designated subjects, as well as on the application of asset freezing measures.
Asset freezing measures apply to designated entities, but also to companies that are ‘owned’ by them or under their ‘control’. The EU Best Practices contain the definitions of ‘ownership’ and ‘control’ necessary to determine whether an entity, even if not expressly designated, should still be considered sanctioned.
With the update of the EU Best Practices, the EU Council changed the notion of ‘ownership’.
Until 3 July 2024, in fact, for the purposes of sanctions, a company was to be considered ‘owned’ by a natural or legal person when the latter owned more than 50 per cent of the former:
The criterion to be taken into account when assessing whether a legal person or entity is owned by another person or entity is the possession of more than 50% of the proprietary rights of an entity or having majority interest in it.
Differently, according to the new definition of ownership, owning 50 per cent or more of the shares is enough to integrate the concept of ‘ownership’ for the purposes of the application of sanctions:
The criterion to be taken into account when assessing whether a legal person or entity is owned by another person or entity is the possession of 50% or more of the proprietary rights of an entity or having majority interest in it.
As a result of this amendment, the number of companies to be considered sanctioned, and to which the asset-freezing measures will be extended, will increase.
On the other hand, no changes have been made to the notion of ‘control’ and the criteria to be used to assess whether or not a company is ‘controlled’ by a sanctioned natural or legal person:
The criteria to be taken into account when assessing whether a legal person or entity is controlled by another person or entity, alone or pursuant to an agreement with another shareholder or other third party, could include, inter alia:
(a) having the right or exercising the power to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of such legal person or entity;
(b) having appointed solely as a result of the exercise of one's voting rights a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of a legal person or entity who have held office during the present and previous financial year;
(c) controlling alone, pursuant to an agreement with other shareholders in or members of a legal person or entity, a majority of shareholders' or members' voting rights in that legal person or entity;
(d) having the right to exercise a dominant influence over a legal person or entity, pursuant to an agreement entered into with that legal person or entity, or to a provision in its Memorandum or Articles of Association, where the law governing that legal person or entity permits its being subject to such agreement or provision;
(e) having the power to exercise the right to exercise a dominant influence referred to in point (d), without being the holder of that right;
(f) having the right to use all or part of the assets of a legal person or entity;
(g) managing the business of a legal person or entity on a unified basis, while publishing consolidated accounts;
(h) sharing jointly and severally the financial liabilities of a legal person or entity, or guaranteeing them.
If any of these criteria are satisfied, it is considered that the legal person or entity is controlled by another person or entity, unless the contrary can be established on a case by case basis.
The fulfilment of the above criteria of ownership or control may be refuted on a case by case basis.
EU fourteenth package of sanctions against Russia
The Council adopted new restrictive measures against Russia, through Regulation (EU).
The new package includes, amongst others, the following restrictive measures:
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- additional listings of individuals and entities subject to financial sanctions;
- further restrictions relating to the financial sector;
- restrictive measures to import/export sector:
- among others, helium (CN code 2804.29.10) and helium-3 (CN code 2845.40) have been listed in Annex XXI Reg. 833/2014;
- manganese and manganese ores (including waste and scrap) have been listed in Annex XXIII Reg. 833/2014;
- new restrictive measures on trade marks patents and intellectual property.
The measures of particular relevance for the shipping industry are the following:
Transports
For the first time, the EU sanctioned specific vessels contributing to Russia’s warfare against Ukraine, or violating or circumventing EU sanctions against Russia (e.g. transporting oil or petroleum products in complete disregard of the price cap framework).
The full list of sanctioned vessels can be found in Annex XLII of Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 (link).
Sanctioned vessels will be banned from entering EU ports, and EU operators will be prohibited from operating, crewing, insuring and providing assistance to such vessels, or making ship-to-ship transfers with them.
Furthermore, the EU widened the flight ban against Russia-related aircrafts. The prohibition to land in, take off from or overfly the EU territory has been extended to non-scheduled flights with regard to which a Russian subject is in a position to “effectively determine the place or time for its take-off or landing”. Aircraft operators shall provide, for non-scheduled flights, information needed for the purpose of verifying compliance with the newly introduced provision, including “credible and satisfactory information” regarding the actual ultimate beneficial owner of the aircraft/the aircraft charterer and official documents displaying the full details of all passengers and crew members.
Finally, the EU also extended the prohibition on the transport of goods by road within the territory of the EU so as to cover EU operators which are owned 25% or more by a Russian subject.
Energy
The new art. 3r Reg. 833/2014 prohibits reloading services in the territory of the Union for the purposes of transshipment operations of liquified natural gas (LNG) falling under CN code 2711 11 00, originating in Russia or exported from Russia. This covers both ship-to-ship transfers and ship-to-shore transfers, as well as re-loading operations, and does not affect import but only re-export to third countries via the EU. Moreover, the new disposition prohibits to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance related to reloading services of LNG.
New investments, as well as the provision of goods, technology and services for the completion of LNG projects under construction, such as Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG are prohibited. Import restrictions are introduced on Russian LNG through EU terminals not connected to the natural gas system.
Art. 3r Reg. 833/2014 shall not apply until 26 March 2025 for the execution of contracts concluded before 25 June 2024. Finally, it should be noted that the restrictive measures set for by the new art. 3r § 1 and 2 shall not apply to reloading services necessary for the bunkering of liquified natural gas fuelled vessels.
Three English judgements in sanctions-related disputes
English Courts have recently been very involved with disputes relating to the effects of the Russia sanctions regime on commercial transactions. Three cases appear to be of particular interest.
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1) UK Supreme Court 15.5.2024, RTI Ltd. C. MUR Shipping BV
A contract of affreightment had been concluded on 9 June 2006 between MUR (shipowner) and RTI (charterer). The contract provided for payment of freight in US Dollars. It also included a Force Majeure Clause defining a “Force Majeur Event” as an event or state of affairs which “is outside the immediate control of the Party giving the Force Majeure Notice” and “cannot be overcome by reasonable endeavours from the Party affected”.
In April 2018 RTI was included by OFAC in the list of sanctioned entities. MUR considered this to be a Force Majeure Event, as it prevented payment of freight in US Dollars. RTI offered payment in Euros, but this was refused by MUR.
The issue to be decided was whether accepting a non-contractual performance (i.e. payment in Euros instead if US Dollars) fell within the notion of “reasonable endeavours”. After contrasting decisions of the Commercial Court and of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court held that “the object of the reasonable endeavours provision is to maintain contractual performance, not to substitute a different performance”.
2) Commercial Court 10.5.2024, Barclays Bank v. VEB
Barclays Bank and VEB had concluded an International Swaps and Derivatives Association Master Agreement; the contract provided for disputes to be referred to arbitration in London. An Addendum to the Agreement indicated as termination events “VEB or any affiliate or any entity related to VEB has been designated as a Specially Designated National or named to an equivalent list of sanctioned persons” and “The imposition of any economic or financial sanctions … that make it illegal or impossible for any of the parties to perform their obligations”.
On 24 February 2022 VEB was included in the UK list of sanctioned entities; Barclays accordingly served a notice of early termination of the Master Agreement and maintained that the sanctions prevented any payment to VEB.
VEB issued proceedings in the Moscow Arbitration Court and Barclays reacted with an application for an anti-suit injunction on the ground that the Moscow proceedings were in breach of the London arbitration clause.
VEB argued that the London arbitration clause had become inoperative or incapable of performance and in any even should not be enforced as a result of the sanctions affecting VEB.
The Commercial Court however found that none of the difficulties which VEB would allegedly face was such as to make it impossible to have a proper defence in the London arbitration. In particular (i) whilst some law firms would decline instructions, others would be prepared to acceptable, (ii) payment of lawyers’ fees would require bureaucratic paperwork, but would eventually be possible, (iii) Russian witnesses could be examined by means of video conference.
3) Chancery Division 3.5.2024, Vneshprombank c. Bedzhamov
Mr. Bedzhamov was engaged in litigation with Vneshprombank (the “Bank”) and its bankruptcy trustee. The Bank had obtained funding for such litigation from a company named A1 LLC.
Mr. Bedzhanov’s position was that there was reasonable cause to believe that A1 was owned or controlled by designated persons, with the consequence that any payment resulting from litigation in favour of the Bank would also benefit A1 and therefore be illegal. The legal issue was whether, in order to trigger the operation of the sanctions regime, it was necessary to establish that A1 was actually owned or controlled by designated persons (as maintained by the Bank) or a “reasonable cause to suspect” was sufficient (as argued by Mr. Bedzhamov).
After careful consideration of the relevant English regulations, in particular Regulation 11 of Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the Court found in favour of the Bank.
New rules criminalising the violation and circumvention of EU sanctions are coming into force
Following its approbation by the Council last month, the EU Directive 1226/2024 on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures and amending Directive (EU) 2018/1673 (the Directive) was published in the Official Journal on last 24 of April.
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The Directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication. Member States will then have one year to incorporate its provisions into their national legislation.
The Directive aims at ensuring the effective application of EU sanctions by setting minimum common rules concerning (i) the conducts that shall be regarded as violations or circumventions of EU sanctions and (ii) the resulting penalties – which were both determined by domestic laws up to now.
The conducts constituting criminal offences are listed in Article 3 and include the sale/purchase/transfer/transport of goods subject to a specific prohibition or restriction, and the provision of services relating to those goods. If such criminal conduct is committed by serious negligence, this may also lead to penalties (Article 3(3)), which makes it crucial for maritime stakeholders to complete a proper due diligence before engaging in shipping operations.
Other examples of criminal offences include the failure to freeze assets, the breach of travel bans and arms embargoes, the provision of prohibited or restricted economic services and the concealment of frozen funds.
The Directive also establishes common standards regarding penalties for both individuals (Article 5) and companies (Article 7), including imprisonment of at least five years and fines of at least € 100’000 for certain offences. In cases involving companies, Member States may impose dissuasive measures, such as the judicial winding-up or the withdrawal of authorisations to pursue the relevant activities, as well as substantial fines in proportion to the gravity of the violation and the financial situation of the company. Member States have the discretion to base these fines on either the company's global turnover or set absolute maximum amounts.
Deadline to insert the ‘No Russia’ clause in commercial contracts under the EU’s 12th package
From 20 March 2024, EU exporters must insert a so-called ‘No Russia’ clause in export/sale/supply/transfer or similar contracts concluded with customers based in third countries.
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This new obligation was introduced by the 12th package of sanctions against Russia adopted by the Council of the European Union on 18 December 2023.
The clause at stake should prohibit the re-export of specific sensitive goods to Russia and provide for ‘adequate remedies’ in the event of a breach, in order to hinder the circumvention of EU export bans and more especially the re-export of such goods to Russia.
In particular, Article 12g of the Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 -as amended- requires EU exporters that sell, supply, transfer or export goods or technology to a third country to contractually ban their customers from re-exporting certain sensitive goods to or for use in Russia. Such goods are those referred to in the following Annexes:
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Annex XI (aviation and space items);
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Annex XX (jet fuel and fuel additives);
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Annex XXXV and Annex I to EU Regulation No. 258/2012 (firearms and ammunition); and
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Annex XL (‘Common High Priority’ items).
The ‘No Russia’ clause must be included in contracts between EU exporters and their customers based in third countries. However, contracts concluded with customers based in partner countries –i.e. US, UK, South Korea, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland- do not need to be amended since these countries are considered as having effective sanctions enforcement regimes in place that prevent re-exports to Russia.
As to the timeframe of the applicability of the measure, the date of entry into force of the 12thpackage of sanctions, i.e.19 December 2023, is relevant; accordingly:
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any contract concluded after 19 December 2023 must include a “No Russia” clause as of 20 March 2024;
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any contract already concluded before 19 December 2023 benefits from a one-year transition period until 19 December 2024 included (or until the contract’s expiry, whichever is earliest).
In light of the above, EU exporters are required to draft a model of ‘No Russia’ clause to be included in all relevant contracts or, as an alternative, to give notice to all relevant counterparties that a ‘No Russia’ clause will be in effect from the applicable date. In view of the lack of any specification on the proper wording of the clause, the contractual parties are free to agree on their own appropriate wording as long as the clause meets the legal requirements. In this respect, it is worth noting that on 22 February 2024 the EU published a guidance on Article 12g requirement, which provides for a ‘No Russia’ clause template. It can be a useful starting point for the concerned business operators.
See our insight “12th Package of EU Sanctions against Russia: Impact on Shipping”
EU thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia
On 23 February 2024, the Council of the European Union adopted the 13th package of sanctions against Russia. Trade restrictions have been tightened: 27 additional entities - including companies located in China, India, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Turkey - blacklisted and export ban extended to drone components.
See our news “EU thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia”
Price cap mechanism: entry into force of new compliance requirements
New compliance requirements – introduced by the 12th package of sanctions and aiming at further implementing the price cap mechanism – are coming into force today. For Russian oil or petroleum products loaded on or after 20 February 2024, shipowners, ship management companies, insurers and insurance brokers shall:
obtain per-voyage customer attestations in which the customer commits not to purchase Russian oil and petroleum products above the price cap; require their counterparties to share information on itemised ancillary costs (e.g. insurance and freight) upon request and be able to share such information to the competent authorities or other counterparties if required. The EU Commission suggested to embed such requirement in relevant contracts, for example incorporating an ‘access to records’ clause which would be activated if the actor needed to seek information about a particular voyage.Continue reading
See our news “New compliance requirements with the price cap mechanism entering into force on February 20, 2024”
EU twelfth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU adopted the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, which imposes additional import and export bans (e.g. on diamonds and dual-use/industrial goods) and aims at combating sanctions circumvention and close loopholes, notably as a response to Russia’s endeavors to evade the oil price cap.
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The measures of particular relevance for the shipping industry are the following:
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enforcement of oil price cap through:
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the collection by services providers of itemized price information for ancillary costs throughout the supply chain of Russian crude oil (as of 20 February 2024);
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the obligation to immediately notify any sale of tankers for the transport of Russian crude oil to third countries;
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the obligation to obtain prior authorization to sell tankers to Russian persons and entities;
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the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation to impede sanctions’ circumvention.
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obligation for EU exporters to contractually prohibit re-exportation to Russia or for use in Russia of certain goods (i.e. no-Russia clause, to be included in commercial contracts from 20 March 2024).
See our insight “12th Package of EU Sanctions against Russia: Impact on Shipping”
EU eleventh package of sanctions against Russia
The Council adopted new restrictive measures against Russia. The agreed package includes amongst others, measures to:
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- strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation with third countries to impede sanctions’ circumvention;
- prohibit the transit of goods and technology via Russia;
- tighten export restrictions.
The following restrictions are particularly relevant for the maritime sector:
- prohibition to provide access to ports and locks in the EU territory by any vessel performing ship-to-ship transfers during the voyage to the EU port, if the competent authorities have reasonable grounds to suspect that the vessel is in breach of the prohibitions on the transport of Russian oil;
- prohibition to grant access to ports and locks in the EU territory if a vessel does not notify the competent authority at least 48 hours in advance about a ship-to-ship transfer occurring withing the Exclusive Economic Zone of a Member State or within 12 nautical miles from the baseline of that Member State’s coast;
- prohibition to provide access to ports and locks in the EU territory by any vessel which the competent authority has reasonable cause to suspect of illegally interfering with, switching off or otherwise disabling its AIS when transporting Russian crude oil and petroleum products.
Moreover, the EU decided that the sale or supply of cruise ships, ferryboats and other vessels for the transport of goods and/or persons, as well as the related technical or financial assistance, to a Russian entity or for use in Russia may exceptionally be authorized under specific conditions.
Regarding individual restrictive measures, it shall be outlined that the scope of natural and legal persons targeted by sanctions has been extended to include those facilitating the infringements of the prohibition against circumvention of economic sanctions.
Finally, the Council clarified that the prohibition to make economic resources available to sanctioned parties does not apply to funds that are needed for the provision of pilot services to vessels in innocent passage.
EU tenth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU adopted the 10th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia, which includes in particular:
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- restrictions on additional critical technology and industrial goods on import (e.g. asphalt and synthetic rubber) and export (e.g. specialised vehicles, machine parts, spare parts for trucks, jet engines, etc.);
- restriction on the possibility of Russian nationals to hold management positions in the governing bodies of EU critical infrastructure (i.e. infrastructure located in Member States which disruption or destruction would have a significant impact on at least two Member States);
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prohibition to provide gas storage capacity (with the exclusion of the part of LNG facilities) to Russian nationals.
In addition, the Council clarified that the prohibitions on providing technical assistance laid down in Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 shall not apply to the provision of pilot services to vessels in innocent passage.
Finally, customs authorities have been authorized to released sanctioned goods physically in the EU and presented to customs prior to 26 February 2023.
EU agrees on further price caps for seaborne Russian petroleum products
EU agrees on further price caps for seaborne Russian petroleum products.
On top of the price cap for crude oil in force since December 2022, the Council decided to set two price caps for petroleum products (CN code 2710) which originate in or are exported from Russia:
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- for “premium-to-crude” petroleum products (e.g. diesel, kerosene, gasoline), a maximum price of $100 per barrel;
- for “discount-to-crude” petroleum products (e.g. fuel oil, napthta), a maximum price of $45 per barrel.
These price caps will be implemented from 5 February 2023, including a 55-day wind-down period for seaborne Russian petroleum products purchased above the price caps, provided it is loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading prior to 5 February 2023 and unloaded at the final port of destination prior to 1 April 2023.
EU ninth package of sanctions against Russia
In response to Russia’s continuing war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU adopted a 9th package of sanctions, which includes bans on:
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- exports of drone engines, dual-use goods and technology;
- investment in the mining sector;
- transactions with the Russian Regional Development Bank;
- the provision of advertising, market research and public opinion polling services.
In addition to economic sanctions, the Council decided to adopt a comprehensive package of individual measures listing a very significant number of additional individuals and entities.
EU agrees on an oil price cap
The Council decided to set a price cap for the transport of crude oil and petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (CN code 2709 00) which originate in or are exported from Russia.
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As of 5 December 2022, the transport of Russian oil to third countries (and related insurance) is allowed provided that the oil was purchased at a price of $60 per barrel or less. This measure does not affect the transport of Russian oil to the EU, which, as a rule, is prohibited.
The EU made clear that shipping, freight, customs, and insurance costs were not included in the price cap and must be invoiced separately at commercially reasonable rates.
A transition period of 45 days has been foreseen for vessels carrying crude oil originating in Russia which was purchased and loaded on board prior to 5 December 2022 and unloaded at the final port of destination prior to 19 January 2023.
The Council also introduced an “emergency clause” which allows the transport of oil beyond the price cap to third countries if such transport is necessary for humanitarian or environmental purposes.
See our insight “Price cap on Russian oil- Obligations of the maritime operators”
EU eighth package of sanctions against Russia
Among the most relevant measures introduced by the 8th package of sanctions against Russia in the legal and maritime sector are:
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- the prohibition for EU vessels to transport to third countries crude oil (as of December 2022) and other petroleum products (as of February 2023) which originate in or are exported from Russia, with possible exemptions based on price caps;
- the prohibition for EU nationals to hold any posts on the governing bodies of certain Russian state-owned or controlled legal persons, entities or bodies;
- the prohibition to provide legal services (mostly extrajudicial) to legal persons and entities established in Russia, but with numerous exceptions (see amendments to art. 5n).
In addition, the Council decided to add to the list of state-owned entities that are subject to the transaction ban the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Such addition prohibits the provision of any sort of economically valuable benefit to the Russian Maritime of Shipping.
See our insight “Eighth Package of EU Sanctions against Russia: Impact on Shipping”
EU seventh package of sanctions against Russia
The Council adopted a further package of restrictive measures to tighten existing economic sanctions against Russia and strengthen their effectiveness. The most relevant measures introduced by the 7th package for the maritime sector are the following:
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- the prohibition to provide access to EU ports to vessels flying the Russian flag has been extended to locks from 29 July 2022, with the exception of access to locks for the purpose of leaving the EU territory (see amendments to art. 3ea).
- the exemption to the general prohibition to engage in transactions with listed companies (such as Rosneft, Transneft, Gazprom Neft, etc.) has been extended in order to cover transactions which are strictly necessary for the export of oil from or through Russia to third countries (and not only to the EU) (see amendments to art. 5aa).
- the exemption to the general prohibition to engage in transactions with listed companies has been extended to transactions which are strictly necessary for the export of pharmaceutical and agricultural products from Russia to the EU/third countries.
See our insight “7th round of EU sanctions against Russia”
EU sixth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU decided to adopt a 6th package of economic and individual sanctions targeting both Russia and Belarus. The economic sanctions particularly relevant for the maritime sector are the following:
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- a prohibition on the purchase, import or transfer into the EU of crude oil and petroleum products originating in or exported from Russia and on the insurance and reinsurance of maritime transport of such goods to third countries (with limited exemption such as imports by pipeline) (see art. 3m).
- a prohibition to provide a series of services (e.g. technical/financial assistance, brokering services, insurance) related to the transport (including transshipment) of Russian crude oil and petroleum products to third countries (see art. 3n).
Among the individual sanctions, it is worth noting that three additional Russian banks and the Belarusian Bank for Development and Reconstruction were excluded from SWIFT.
See our insight “Sixth round of EU sanctions: transport of oil by sea”
EU fifth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU adopted a fifth round of sanctions against Russia. To the prohibition to export goods and technologies suited for use in oil refining (in force since late February 2022), the Council added a ban on exporting those suited for liquefaction of natural gas.
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Additional bans on the export of goods to or for use in Russia have been introduced, such as bans on:
- exports of jet fuel and fuel additives;
- exports of goods which could contribute in particular to the enhancement of Russian industrial capacities as listed in Annex XXIII to any natural or legal persons in Russia.
Regarding the import into the EU of goods originating in Russia or exported from Russia, the following prohibitions can be mentioned:
- prohibition to import goods which generate significant revenues for Russia thereby enabling its actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, as listed in Annex XXI, which includes among others cruise ships;
- prohibition to import coal and other solid fossil fuels.
The provision of services related to the above-mentioned goods is also prohibited.
In addition, the Council introduced a ban on all Russian vessels from accessing the EU ports as well as a ban on Russian and Belarussian road transport operators from entering the EU.
Finally, the EU also adopted sanctions against 217 individuals and 18 entities, including a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks, representing a 23% market share in the Russian banking sector.
See our insight “The fifth package of EU sanctions against Russia”
EU fourth package of sanctions against Russia
The EU imposed a fourth package of economic and individual sanctions, including the prohibition to:
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- import, purchase, transport into the EU iron and steel products originating in Russia or exported from Russia;
- sell, supply, transfer or export luxury goods to any natural or legal persons in Russia or for use in Russia;
- engage in any transaction with certain state-owned enterprises as listed in Annex X, with the exemption of transactions which are strictly necessary for the import of fossil fuels and specific ore from Russia into the Union;
- provide credit rating services, as well as access to any subscription services in relation to credit rating activities, to any Russian person or entity;
- invest in the Russian energy sector.
The EU also introduced sanctions on additional 15 individuals and 9 entities, including companies in the aviation, military and dual use, shipbuilding and machine building sectors.
EU third package of sanctions against Russia
The EU excluded from SWIFT seven Russian banks (Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sovcombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), VTB Bank) and the ones they directly or indirectly own for more than 50%.
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The EU also introduced a ban on:
- investing, participating or otherwise contributing to future projects co-financed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
- selling, supplying, transferring or exporting euro banknotes to Russia or to any natural or legal person or entity in Russia.
EU third package of sanctions against Russia
The EU approved new measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which include a ban on:
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- the overflight of EU airspace and access to EU airports by Russian carriers of all kinds.
- transactions with the Russian Central Bank.
EU second package of sanctions against Russia
The EU agreed on further individual and economic measures, among which:
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the prohibition to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia, the following goods:
- “dual-use” goods and technologies (which are defined in: link);
- goods and technologies which might contribute to Russia’s military and technological enhancement, or the development of the defence and security sector, as listed in Annex VII;
- goods and technologies suited for use in oil refining, as listed in Annex X;
- goods and technologies suited for use in aviation or the space industry, as listed in Annex XI.
It shall be noted that the prohibition applies whether or not the goods are originating in the EU and that the provision of services related to the above-mentioned goods is also prohibited.
- restrictions on financial activities
EU first package of sanctions against Russia
The Council of the European Union adopted a package of measures in response to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine. The agreed package includes:
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- targeted sanctions against the 351 members of the Russian State Duma and an additional 27 individuals;
- restrictions on economic relations with the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts;
- restrictions on Russia's access the EU’s capital and financial markets and services.
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