Foreign sanctions against Russian citizens and companies.. and their reflection

EU sanctions

Main article: EU sanctions against Russia

US and EU sanctions on Russian oil and gas sector

Main article: US and EU sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sector

Sanctions of Ukraine

Main article: Sanctions of Ukraine against Russia

Sanctions by the United States and other countries

2024

The Dutch government has unfrozen most of the Russian assets - by 560 million euros. Among them is the yacht of Garik Sukachev

In early October 2024, it became known that the Dutch government had unfrozen Russian assets worth more than €560 million. These included Garik Sukachev's yacht called Pearly Bell 2, built at the Contest Yachts shipyard.

According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, the bulk of Russian assets in the Netherlands were blocked in February-March 2022 due to the prevailing geopolitical situation. Then the figure was called €515.91 million. As of the beginning of 2024, the volume of Russian assets blocked in the Netherlands was estimated at €660 million, but by the middle of this year it had decreased to €97.2 million. Thus, almost €563 million has been thawed.

Pearl Bell 2 yacht

It is said that about two-thirds of the initially frozen funds, or €430 million euros, were accounted for by two Russian companies, the names of which are not specified. One of them was able to achieve the unblocking of assets by €230 million, as it changed the ownership structure and was able to "formally distance itself" from the Russian owner.

At the same time, it is reported that the Russian law firm BGP Litigation was able to resolve the issue with Sukachev's yacht. Since August 2022, the ship has been in the port of the Dutch city of Medemblika. The Vedomosti newspaper notes that the European Union did not impose sanctions on Sukachev, so it is not clear why the yacht was blocked in the Netherlands. After the lifting of restrictive measures, the ship left the Dutch port and moored in the port of the Turkish resort of Turgutreis.

Departing for a couple of years on [Pearly Bell's] last boat, I decided to redo something inside and asked the CEO of Contest Yachts to send in blueprints. And since I am an engineer by my first education, I sat down with these drawings, changed some things in places and, in general, made a boat refit, "says Sukachev.[1]

21,758 sanctions against Russia

US Treasury imposed sanctions against Timer Bank created in Tatarstan

On September 19, 2024, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC) announced the imposition of sanctions against Timer Bank, created in Tatarstan. In addition, Stroytrand LLC, Vice President of TsMRBank LLC Dmitry Nikulin and the South Ossetian International Settlement Bank (MRB) fell under restrictions. Read more here

Russian suppliers of medical equipment "Biograd" and "Rau Farm" fell under US sanctions

In early May 2024, Russian suppliers of medical equipment Biograd and Rau Farm fell under US sanctions. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (OFAC), these companies conducted "activities in the economic sector of the Russian Federation, designed to support the military-industrial base of Russia." Read more here.

2023

US refusal to buy Russian fish and seafood

In December 2023, the United States introduced a ban on imports from the Russian Federation of salmon, cod, pollock and crab.

Restrictions from the US Treasury on certain fish products apply to Russian seafood harvested in Russian waters or on ships flying the Russian flag, even if they are then processed in third countries.

The United States imposed anti-Russian sanctions against more than 200 companies operating in different industries and countries, as well as 23 individuals and three sea vessels

USA In December 2023, companies from,, Russia,, and representing China Turkey UAE Britain Maldives the industrial, financial, mining, development sectors, as well as the media fell under sanctions. In the list:

• Perm Powder Plant,
• Engels Instrument-Making Association "Signal,"
• Chukotka Mining and Geological Company,
• Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant "Dome,"
• Kamchatka Gold JSC,
• Kazan Compressor Engineering Plant,
• Novosibirsk Cartridge Plant,
• Scientific and Production Association "Flight,"
• JSC "Tulatochmash,"
• "Behring Metals,"
• 7TV Media Group,
• LLC "Kievskaya Ploshchad,"
• "East Gold,"
• management company "Moscow City,"
• Gazprom Linde Engineering LLC and
• LLC "Northern Technologies."
• Entrepreneur Sviblov Vladislav Vladimirovich and Highland Gold, as well as
• entrepreneur Tavrin Ivan Vladimirovich and a number of related companies, including Kismet Telecom Infrastructure LLC, Kismet Capital Group LLC and Kismet Consulting LLC.

The list of sanctions includes the heads of Russian defense enterprises:

• tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod Alexander Potapov,
• electronic warfare systems - concern "Radioelectronic Technologies" (KRET) Alexander Pan,
• "Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant" Vasily Shupranov and
• Andrei Kazazaev, general director of the small arms manufacturer, the Degtyarev plant.

Sanctions were also imposed against three ships with the Russian flag - Arkady Cheryshev, Captain Yakubovich and Maria.

The United States imposed sanctions on the SPB exchange. Blocked assets of Russians in foreign securities reached 2.3 trillion rubles or $23.6 billion

Over 1.5 trillion rubles of foreign securities and mutual funds a_133183 were in the accounts of Russians before the second wave of sanctions (blocking assets St. Petersburg Stock Exchange"" after being included in the SDN list from the outside, USA according to the Central Bank.

We are talking exclusively about shares - 1.25 trillion rubles in shares, bypassing intermediaries, and 291 billion rubles through mutual funds of investment funds focused on investments in non-residents' shares (Tinkoff Bank had the largest). Another 730 billion in debt securities of non-residents. Total in foreign securities about 2.3 trillion rubles or 23.6 billion dollars at the exchange rate as of October 1 (the latest reporting data).

There is no information on which part was blocked in the first wave of sanctions (February-March 2022), and which part after November 2, 2023.

Earlier, in January 2021, Russians held 1.2 trillion rubles in shares of foreign issuers, 355 billion in mutual funds and 1 trillion rubles in bonds, i.e. almost 2.6 trillion rubles or 33 billion dollars - 30% was sold directly through market sales or indirectly through the OTC market.

WTO: Sanctions against Russia reduce the well-being of most economies in the world

On September 12, 2023, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released a report that, among other things, refers to the impact of anti-Russian sanctions on the global economy. Analysts also warned of the risks of fragmentation of the global economy and its division into blocks due to the restrictions imposed.

The WTO noted that even tensions in bilateral trade can reduce economic growth in countries with highly integrated economies. For example, trade tensions between China and the United States were found to have resulted in welfare losses of 0.3% of GDP in China and 0.1% of GDP in the United States. Similarly, the sanctions that were imposed against Russia after the start of the Ukrainian conflict "will have a negative impact on most economies." Russia will face the largest drop in real GDP, according to the WTO report.

In early January 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated the total damage from the fragmentation of the global economy at seven percent of global GDP with an unfavorable forecast and from 0.2 percent with a favorable one. Then the organization warned that the integration of trade relations, which characterized the second half of the 20th century, could turn back against the backdrop of growing geopolitical differences.

The WTO adds that geopolitical tensions typically affect "only a few countries" initiating a breakdown in trade relations, while other countries can remain neutral or join some of the breakaway economies. According to the organization's forecasts, developed countries will lose 3% of their GDP between 2020 and 2050 in a scenario of an all-out economic war between East and West without any neutral countries.

{{quote 'Although least developed countries could benefit from neutrality, their GDP growth would not allow substantial integration into the global economy due to limited dissemination of knowledge and productivity growth in the long term, adds WTO^[2] }}

The United States imposed sanctions on Russians on charges of cyber attacks. List

On September 7, 2023, the US Treasury Department announced the inclusion of 11 Russians on the sanctions list related to cybercrime. The updated list includes:

• Andrei Zhuikov (Niki Dif and Defender) - according to the United States, was the central actor in the group and served as senior administrator;
• Maxim Galochkin (Bentley, Crypt and Volhvb) - named head of the group of testers responsible for the development and implementation of tests;
• Maxim Rudensky - USA considers him a key member of Trickbot and the head of the programming team;
• Mikhail Tsarev (Alexander Grachev, Mikhail Ivanov, MANGO, MISHA KRUTYSHA, SUPER MISHA) - named in the message as the group manager and responsible for accounting;
• Dmitry Putilin (GRAD, STAFF) - according to the US version, is associated with the purchase of Trickbot infrastructure;
• Sergey Loguntsov - is considered the developer of the group;
• Maxim Khaliullin - named Trickbot HR Manager;
• Vadim Valiakhmedov (Weldon, Mentos, Vasm) - according to the American authorities, was a programmer of the group;
• Artem Kurov (NANED) - considered a developer programmer;
• Mikhail Chernov (Bullet) - according to the US Department of Justice, part of the group of internal utilities;
• Alexander Mozhaev (Green, Rocco) - is considered an administrator who was responsible for general duties.

The explanation of the US Treasury says that the sanctioned people are key members of the "Russian-based cybercriminal group Trickbot." According to the agency, the group "has connections with Russian intelligence services," its goals were the American government, companies, as well as hospitals.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trickbot group attacked many critical infrastructure and health care providers in the United States, the ministry said.[3]

US imposed sanctions against Tinkoff Bank

On July 20, 2023, the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on Russian citizens and companies. In particular, Tinkoff Bank fell under restrictions. Read more here.

2022

Assets of Arkady Volozh arrested in Finland

September 22, 2022 it became known about the arrest of the assets of Arkady Volozh in Finland. In addition to Yandex, the restrictions affected the company itself. Read more here.

The United States imposed sanctions against the Russian medical university named after Pirogov

Russian National Research Medical University (RNIMU) named after N.I. Pirogov fell under US sanctions, which became known at the end of August 2022. According to the university, international joint programs have ceased to be available, but Russian diplomas for them continue to operate. Read more here.

The volume of Russian assets frozen by different countries. Card

Two-thirds of companies from Britain suffered from the consequences of anti-Russian sanctions

In August 2022, the Daily Mail assessed the damage from sanctions for companies from Britain. More than two-thirds of companies from Britain suffered from the consequences of anti-Russian sanctions, the newspaper reports, citing a survey by the insurance agency Mactavish.

Almost half of the companies surveyed are facing rising operating costs and production process failures. 44% of companies reported that due to the sanctions imposed on Russia, they lost suppliers, and 42% report problems with personnel. At the same time, 92% of firms from the financial sector suffer losses, since part of their assets and acquired securities are directly related to Russia.

Only half of G20 members join Russia sanctions

The US push to isolate Russia and China is collapsing by early August 2022, with only half of G20 members joining sanctions imposed on Russia.

This is the unpleasant reality facing US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on his long tour of Southeast Asian and African countries: much of the world is not ready to follow US and European efforts to isolate Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a bill banning the dissemination of "counter-sanctions information"

State Duma deputies on June 6, 2022 adopted in the third reading a law that introduces the concept of "counter-sanction information" into legislation. Read more here.

US imposed full blocking sanctions against Sberbank and Alfa Bank

On April 6, 2022, the US White House announced the introduction of full blocking sanctions against Sberbank and Alfa Bank. Inclusion in the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) list involves blocking all assets of credit institutions in the United States, introducing a ban on American citizens and companies from conducting any transactions with them. Read more here.

Sanctions against the head of Rostelecom

On March 9, 2022 European Union , he expanded the list of sanctions to include 14 Russian businessmen and heads of large industrial companies, "which operate in the main sectors of the economy and are a significant source of funds for," Russia as well as individual members of their families. In particular, restrictions were introduced against the president of "" Rostelecom Mikhail Oseevsky. He was frozen all assets and accounts in, To Europe and banned from entering. Read European Union more. here

2021

MIPT is on the US sanctions list

On November 24, 2021, the US Department of Commerce added the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) to the sanctions list. The department explained its decision by the fact that the university allegedly develops military products for a certain customer from the defense industry. Read more here.

Trump banned the purchase of drones from Russia

On January 18, 2021 USA , a signed Donald Trump decree banning public procurement unmanned aerial vehicles made by "opponents" countries was published on the website of the presidential administration. Washington More. here

2020

US Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian research institute, accusing it of cyber attacks on industrial facilities

At the end of October 2020, the Central Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIHM) was under American sanctions. This was announced by the US Treasury Department. Read more here.

The United States imposed sanctions against two Russians for their "participation in a complex phishing campaign"

In coordination with the US Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury added two Russians to the sanctions list for their participation in a complex phishing campaign in 2017 and 2018, which was directed against the clients of two American and one foreign service provider in the field of virtual assets, "the message says. As a result of these cyber attacks, the total losses of American citizens and companies amounted to $16.8 million. This became known on September 16, 2020.

Muscovite Dmitry Karasavidi (born 1985) and a resident Voronezh Danil Potekhin (born 1995) are mentioned.

According to the indictment of the US Department of Justice, Danil Potekhin created many web domains that simulate legitimate virtual exchangers (a tactic known as spoofing uses the trust of Internet users in well-known companies to deceive their personal information). Having pledged on a fake website, people unwittingly passed on their information to Potekhin and those associated with him. Karasavidi is accused of being involved in the laundering of illegally obtained funds with the help of his personal account.

Earlier, the United States imposed sanctions against three Russians and one citizen of Ukraine in connection with the case of "interference" in the American elections.

The list of people whom the United States suspects of involvement in cybercrimes includes Andreev Anton Nikolaevich, Aslanova Daria Dmitrievna, Lifshits Artem Mikhailovich and a citizen of Ukraine Derkach Andrei Leonidovich. All three Russians are residents of St. Petersburg, a citizen of Ukraine is from Kyiv. Non-factional deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Derkach previously published recordings of conversations in which voices similar to those of former US Vice President Joseph Biden and ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko are heard. ^[4] of^[5]

US imposed sanctions against Russian developers of coronavirus vaccines

The Bureau of Industry and Security of the Ministry of Trade USA at the end of August 2020 blacklisted three Russian research institutes (NIIs), including those involved in the development of a vaccine from COVID-19 the establishment of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. More. here

The State Duma adopted a law on the transfer of proceedings of sanctioned Russian companies from foreign courts to Russian

The State Duma in the second and third readings on May 27, 2020 adopted a law allowing Russian companies and citizens subject to foreign sanctions to transfer disputes with counterparties to Russian courts contrary to contractual obligations ^[6]

This document, with amendments to the Arbitration Procedure Code, was submitted to the State Duma in the summer of 2019 by a group of deputies, among whom were Andrei Lugovoi (LDPR) and United Russia party member Victor Pinsky. He gave Russian citizens and companies that found themselves under foreign sanctions the right to unilaterally change the condition on the place of consideration of the dispute in an agreement with a foreign counterparty, transferring it from abroad to a Russian state or arbitration court. If a foreign partner does not agree to such a change and still conducts proceedings outside Russian jurisdiction, then the bill threatened him with a penalty in the amount of the declared claims. In addition, a fine was introduced for such a counterparty in case he refuses to comply with the decision of the Russian court to terminate the process abroad.

By the second reading, the document, to which the deputies did not return for a long time after the first reading in the summer of 2019, was seriously adjusted. The deputies eventually abandoned the idea of ​ ​ unilaterally changing the agreement on the jurisdiction of the dispute. It will be possible to transfer the proceedings to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation only by decision of the Russian state arbitration court if the sanctioned person manages to convince him that the previous agreement is "unenforceable due to the application" of restrictive measures that create obstacles to access to justice.

A sanctioned person can act both ahead of the curve - to seek consideration of a dispute in Russia, if it has not yet begun in a foreign one, and to demand a ban on the counterparty to initiate such a dispute abroad. And if there is already such a dispute, then a sanctioned person may seek in a Russian court a ban on a foreign counterparty to continue litigation abroad.

At the same time, according to the document, the Russian court has the right to preemptively award in favor of the applicant a monetary amount that should be recovered from its foreign counterparty if it ignores the ban on initiating or continuing proceedings in a foreign court. The draft states that the amount should be determined "on the basis of the principles of fairness, proportionality and inadmissibility of benefiting" - its size should not exceed the size of claims made in a foreign court or international commercial arbitration outside the Russian Federation, and court costs.

During the revision of the document, the deputies also expanded the circle of persons who can use such options from Russian justice. These options will become available not only to directly sanctioned Russian citizens and companies, but also to foreign companies that have fallen under the so-called secondary sanctions due to relations with them.

2019

Visa and MasterCard blocked Eurofinance Mosnarbank cards due to US sanctions

On March 13, 2019, it became known that Eurofinance cards would switch to Mir, because Visa and MasterCard had disconnected the bank due to US sanctions. Read more here.

US threatens Russian IT companies with new sanctions

The US Congress published in February 2019 an updated bill "On the Protection of American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2019," which threatens Russian companies with new sanctions. The text of the bill can be found on the website of the US Congress threatens^[7].

The document is authored by Republican Party representatives Lindsey Graham and Cory Gardner, as well as Democratic parliamentarians Bob Menendez, Ben Cardin and Jeanne Shaheen. The introduction of the bill became known on February 13. The first version of the document was presented in 2018, compared to it, there are some changes in the current version.

What to expect for IT companies

The bill has a section 236 that describes sanctions against the Russian cyber sector. This section states that if the law is passed, the US president must within 60 days impose sanctions described in section 224 (b) of the US law on H.R.3364 sanctions on Russian IT-related structures. There is no list of specific companies in the bill, we are talking about the entire Russian cyber sector.

According to the text of the bill, any structure that "knowingly participates in significant transactions with any person in the Russian Federation who supports or facilitates malicious cyber activity" or "knowingly owns or controls, or knowingly acts or intends to act on behalf of or in the interests, directly or indirectly, of the person who makes significant transactions" described above is subject to sanctions.

US lifted sanctions on Rusal, En + and Eurosibenergo

The US Treasury Department lifted on January 27 sanctions imposed earlier on the Russian company Rusal, En + holding and Eurosibenergo.

"The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department today lifted the sanctions imposed against En + Group plc (En +), Rusal (Rusal) and Eurosibenergo (ESE), after an earlier notification submitted to Congress on December 19, 2018," the document says

.

The agency emphasizes that "in accordance with the conditions of exclusion" from the sanctions list, the companies "reduced the share of direct and indirect ownership of Oleg Deripaska and severely limited his control" over them. As noted in the statement, such a decision "ensures that the majority of directors on the boards of En + and Rusal will be independent - including American and European persons - who do not have business, professional or family ties with Deripaska" or any other legal entities or individuals on the American sanctions lists.

In addition, the department stressed that "all sanctions imposed on Deripaska continue to remain in force."

2018

Monotype Imaging refused to license popular fonts for Russian software

According to a report on December 10, 2018, government officials will have to abandon the use of popular fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, Courier New, etc. The fact is that the rights to fonts belong to the American company Monotype Imaging, which refused to license them for Russian software due to sanctions.

As stated in the methodology sent to all Russian government agencies, officials can use the aforementioned fonts only on one computer and not for printing documents. Copying fonts to other computers, including them in electronic documents (for example, in PDF/A format) for transfer to other organizations, or using them in web applications is prohibited.

Instead of fonts from Monotype Imaging, officials are invited to use domestic or free foreign fonts with an open license. Alternative fonts must be similar to forbidden ones (for example, PTAstra and Liberation) so that the structures of texts do not distort when switching.

In order to avoid confusion, government agencies are advised to switch to Russian software, including OS and office programs^[8] in the ^[9] to ^[10].

Banks of the Russian Federation that fall under sanctions will be allowed to hide shareholders

The Russian government allowed banks that fell under sanctions not to disclose reports and "classify" the composition of the supervisory board and board. The relevant decisions are published on the website of the Cabinet. There are three such decisions - No. 1403, No. 1404 and No. 1405 of November 23, 2018, the Prime agency writes at the end of November 2018. As indicated on the government's website, their goal is to protect the interests of Russian banks, credit institutions and non-bank credit institutions , in respect of which "restrictive measures taken by foreign states are in force." Also, the purpose of the documents is "countering illegal sanctions pressure."

"It is established that such banks and credit institutions have the right to decide not to disclose information subject to disclosure in accordance with the law. At    the same time, they will have to submit this information to the Bank of Russia and explain in a motivated manner why they made such a decision, "the explanation says to three decisions

.

The list of information that banks must disclose , in particular, includes their financial statements, the composition of the board of directors and management bodies. The resolution states that the bank has the right not to disclose this information, including if restrictive measures are introduced not only against the credit institution itself, but also members of its board of directors or members of the board.

InfoTeCS fell under US sanctions

On September 26, 2018, the Department of Commerce USA , based on unmotivated suspicions of the American administration, included the OJSC "InfoTeCS" in the list of companies subject to sanctions. The essence of the imposed sanctions is a ban on American companies from supplying dual-use products to InfoTeCS OJSC. More. here

US authorities seized two mansions of Oleg Deripaska

Among the assets of billionaire Oleg Deripaska, frozen in October 2018 in the United States, were two of his mansions. The New York Post writes about this with reference to its sources in the US Treasury. Real estate is located in New York and Washington, according to the material.

Deripaska's New York mansion is located in Manhattan (11 East 64th Street). According to the publication, the billionaire acquired it for $42 million in 2008. After the announcement of the sanctions, he allegedly allowed the ex-wife of another billionaire Roman Abramovich Darya Zhukova to live in the mansion. The American authorities, in turn, did not obstruct this.

Recall that the United States imposed sanctions on Oleg Deripaska on April 6. He was banned from entering the country and frozen all his assets. The US Treasury accused the Russian billionaire of money laundering, intimidating business partners, wiretapping officials' phones and participating in extortion. Also in the justification of the sanctions, it was noted that Deripaska could "bribe officials, act as a customer for the murders of businessmen and have connections with organized crime in Russia" (quoted by "Business Petersburg").

US sanctions against 12 companies for "aiding cybercriminals" and supplying military

In September 2018, the US Department of Commerce prepared sanctions against 12 companies from Russia, with four of them accused of complicity in Russian cybercriminals. The rest are to blame for supplying equipment to the Russian military fleet and supporting the military aerospace industry.

The US government intends to impose sanctions against the Russian research institute Vector, the Gamma research and production enterprise, Cyrus Systems and the InfoTeCS group of companies. The American authorities believe that these structures "contributed to the activities of Russian cyber attackers."

Other victims of sanctions

In addition to these companies, the notice of the US Department of Commerce refers to other structures - representatives of other industries. The list includes the companies Aero composite"," "Dayvtekhnoservis," Nilco Group, Obninsk scientific and production enterprise "Technology," scientific and production enterprise of underwater technologies, Oceanos"" design bureau, Aircraft engine"" scientific and production corporation "Systems of precision instrument making" and Voronezh Research Institute "Vega."

The document states that these companies "act against the interests of national security or foreign policy of the United States." Dayvtekhnoservis and Okeanos were included in the list due to the supply of equipment to the Russian military fleet, the rest of the United States is accused of supporting the Russian military aerospace industry^[11].

Authorities: "SAP, Microsoft, Facebook and other IT giants do not want to leave Russia under sanctions"

Sanctions imposed on Russia interfere with negotiations with large foreign IT companies; Nevertheless, no one wants to lose share in the Russian market, everyone understands the strategic importance of our country, RIA Novosti reported in September 2018, citing the words of the Russian President's Special Representative for Digital Development Dmitry Peskov in an interview on the eve of the Eastern Economic Forum (VEF-2018)^[12]."

According to the special representative of the president, at present, sanctions rhetoric has an impact on all stages of business work, while the risk assessment is being revised and the planning horizon is decreasing.

Nevertheless, no one intends to lose the Russian market, since everyone understands the strategic importance of the situation, since in the event of easing geopolitical restrictions, everyone wants to become the first on the market, for which it is important to maintain bridgeheads in our country - as well as Russia to maintain their bridgeheads in the West, he noted.

"Everyone's situation is different. It is important for them to keep market share. Russia is not the largest market in the world, but also not the smallest. Even when it is 2-3-4% for the company, these percentages can be critically important, "Peskov said. - Our situation is such that we almost nowhere have a majority share, a controlling stake, but always our minority share is very important, it does not allow another to get a controlling stake. Therefore, there is a perspective here. "

US imposed sanctions against Russian microelectronics developers

The Industry and Security Agency (BIS), part of the US Department of Commerce, expanded at the end of August the sanctions list of companies subject to export restrictions. 15 organizations from Russia, China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom were added to it. ^[13].

The BIS report indicates that the activities of these companies are detrimental to the interests and national security of the United States. With another company - from Greece - the sanctions, on the contrary, have been lifted. The corresponding changes will be included in the list of companies subject to restrictions related to Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

Who were sanctioned in Russia

Among the Russian structures on the list was the Zelenograd "Research Institute of Molecular Electronics" (NIIME). The company told CNews it would be sending a request to U.S. authorities to clarify the situation.

IDC asked "not to expel" Kaspersky Lab

One of the largest international analytical companies - IDC, specializing in the IT industry - has released a report "Do not expel Kaspersky Lab until reliable evidence is obtained (a copy is at the disposal of RBC). In it, analysts recommended that companies continue to work with a Russian software developer, despite initiatives to impose restrictions on the use of its products in Yevrosoyuza​ government agencies. IDC is confident that companies can use the services of Kaspersky Lab until evidence is presented that the developer of antivirus products acted with the malicious intent^[14] not to^[15]

Shares of AFK Sistema fell 10% after proposals from the United States to impose sanctions

The securities of the Russian investment company AFK Sistema began to fall after the publication of a letter from members of the US Congress Mark Walker and Ilean Ros-Leitinen to the heads of the Ministry of Finance Stephen Mnuchin and the State Department Mike Pompeo urging to study the possibility of including the Russian billionaire and the main beneficiary of AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov in the sanctions list. Congressmen noted that he is mentioned in the "Kremlin report" along with other Russian billionaires^[16] after^[17]

US imposed sanctions on Russians looking for "holes" in SAP and Oracle

The US Treasury Department has published on its website an addition to the list of Russian persons and organizations on which^[18] sanctions have been imposed^[19].

Newcomers to the sanctions list, according to the US Treasury, are suspected or accused by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Treasury of committing cyber attacks against America or of collaborating with the Russian FSB in actions against Ukraine.

Among others, the expanded sanctions list includes the Kvant Research Institute, Digital Security, ERPScan and Embedi.

Swiss banks blocked Vekselberg's money

Banks Switzerland have blocked Victor Vekselberg funds from the Russian oligarch totaling 1 billion Swiss francs (approximately $1 billion), Forbes^[20]

Financial companies took this step due to US sanctions, which extended to Vekselberg and his assets. Formally, the Americans did not require all banks in the world to freeze the funds of the "disgraced" Russian oligarchs - this requirement applies to American banks. However, according to experts, Swiss bankers decided to meet the United States halfway so as not to incur the wrath of the American authorities. As you know, in the late 2000s, the largest Swiss bank UBS came under pressure from American law enforcement officers, since it kept the money of US citizens evading taxes. As a result, UBS had to pay the Americans $780 million and transfer information about defaulting customers.

UBS (UBS, United Business Systems), Credit Suisse and even Bank of Cyprus took part in the blocking of Vekselberg's funds, despite the fact that the oligarch owns almost 10% of the shares of this organization.

Vekselberg's lawyers are preparing lawsuits against Swiss banks, but experts believe that it will be problematic to receive significant compensation in this case.

England to freeze assets of 130 Russian oligarchs

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) will step up its fight against Russian citizens who are "linked to Putin." This was reported by The Sunday Times^{[21][22][23][24]}.

The subject of the investigation of the English special services, which is an analogue of the American FBI, will be "corrupt elites and their illegal assets." The head of the agency, Donald Tun, noted that it was not about the nationality of these elites. However, according to sources of The Sunday Times, in fact, we are talking about Russian "oligarchs and multimillionaires." They will be required to explain the origin of funds above 50 thousand pounds (4.1 million rubles). The "strengthening" of the investigation is associated with the poisoning of former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Viktor Vekselberg, Oleg Deripaska, Alexey Mordashov ask for money and benefits from the state

• In early May, Renova Viktor Vekselberg asked to refinance loans received in the West in the West for 820 million euros, defer payments on debts, and also provide tax breaks and abolish duties on imports of raw materials. The government agreed to give Renova money in the form of a loan from Promsvyazbank; budget funds were not formally used for this^[25].
• En + Deripaska's group at the end of May asked for benefits in the energy market, which would allow it to save several tens of billions of rubles - this was proposed by raising electricity prices for consumers. The government has not yet decided whether to help Deripaska in this way.
• Alexey Mordashov, the owner of Power Machines, which fell under the sanctions back in January, turned to the authorities for help several times: according to RBC, in May he asked to allocate his company from the budget 7.5 billion rubles for a project to localize gas turbines. The businessman himself later claimed that he "never asked for money from the state" and is only negotiating investments.

Billionaire Mintz left for London with his sons

Businessman and state adviser of the 1st class Boris Mints, who fell under US sanctions, left Russia and went to London with his three sons, Vedomosti reported on May 28, 2018.

Akado may be without Cisco technical support due to sanctions

Akado may be left without technical support for the conditional access system that Cisco provides. According to Vedomosti, technical support may be terminated as early as June due to the fact that Viktor Vekselberg and Renova, who control the operator, were included in the sanctions list of the US Treasury, with the defendants of which American residents should not conduct Akado business^[26].

The conditional access system encodes a signal for transmission to a set-top box and protecting content from illegal access. Akado uses the NDS system purchased by Cisco in 2012. Despite the fact that the system will be able to work without technical support, the company risks losing customers in the event of technical failures. According to observers, a failure in the Akado system may affect about 220 thousand subscribers of the operator in Moscow.

The State Duma adopted a law on retaliatory sanctions

The lower house of the Russian parliament adopted in the third and final reading a bill on sanctions in response to the "unfriendly actions" of the United States and other countries.

In the final version of the bill, there is no mention of specific areas that may be subject to sanctions. The document makes it possible for the government to ban the import of any products and raw materials - with the exception of vital goods that are not produced in Russia.

Also, possible restrictions cannot apply to goods imported for personal use, both by Russians and foreign citizens.

Bill No. 441399-7 "On measures of influence (counteraction) on the unfriendly actions of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states"

Asymmetric US response from State Duma deputies

State Duma deputies came up with a legislative initiative aimed at countering the recent unfriendly steps of the United States against Russian businessmen and politicians. The bill submitted to the State Duma contains a measure Russia ON providing for the restriction of purchases by government agencies and some legal entities and technological equipment from the United States and other states supporting America's policy in this matter.

The document was prepared by the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, his first deputy Ivan Melnikov, as well as the leaders of the Duma factions Gennady Zyuganov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Sergei Neverov (United Russia) and Sergei Mironov (Fair Russia).

On April 13, 2018, the website of the State Duma published^[27] states, the text^[28] bill is proposed to introduce retaliatory sanctions against the United States and other states that have joined the sanctions of the United States.

Nuances of the bill

The deputies see the purpose of the developed draft law as protecting the interests and security of Russia, as well as the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Of the proposed measures of the IT market, the prohibition or restriction on attracting highly qualified foreign specialists to work in our country (without specifying industries) and the exhaustion of the exclusive right to trademarks in relation to products from the United States and countries of solidarity with them are also indirectly concerned. The^[29].

In addition, the deputies also intend to restrict the entry of individual citizens into Russia and the import of American agricultural products, alcohol, tobacco, medicines, products from rare earth metals. In addition, it is planned to reduce cooperation between Russia and the United States in the nuclear power, in the aircraft industry and rocket engines.

At the same time, the deputies do not assume full responsibility for the formation of specific "black lists." "The measures of influence provided for by this federal law are introduced by the Government of Russia by decision of the President," the bill says.

Article 2. Action (countermeasures)

Measures of influence (counteraction) include:
1) prohibition of import or restriction of import into the territory of the Russian Federation agricultural of products, raw materials and food, the country of origin of which is the United States of America and (or) other foreign, states according to the list of such products, raw materials and food determined by the Government of the Russian Federation;
2) prohibition of the import or restriction of alcohol and tobacco products into the territory of the Russian Federation, the country of origin of which is the United States of America and (or) other foreign states;
3) prohibition of entry of citizens of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states according to the list determined by the federal executive body exercising the functions of developing and implementing state policy and legal regulation in the field of international relations of the Russian Federation;
4) termination or suspension of international cooperation of the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities with the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states participate in the nuclear industry;
5) termination or suspension of international cooperation of the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities with the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states participate in the aircraft industry;
6) termination or suspension of international cooperation of the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities with the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states participate in the rocket and engine industry;
7) prohibition on the admission or restriction of access to technological equipment and software originating from the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, according to the list of such equipment and support determined by the Government of the Russian Federation, for the purpose of procurement to meet state and municipal needs, as well as the needs of certain types of legal entities;
8) prohibiting or restricting the performance (performance) of entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (a predominant participation of more than 25 per cent in equity), entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, certain types of works (services), including consulting, audit and legal services, on the territory of the Russian Federation to meet state and municipal needs, as well as the needs of certain types of legal entities;
9) prohibiting or restricting the participation of citizens of the United States of America and (or) other foreign States, entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America; (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (the predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and/or other foreign countries participate in the privatization of state or municipal property;
10) prohibiting or restricting the participation of entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (a predominant participation of more than 25 per cent in equity), entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, in performance (provision) by them of works (services) on the organization on behalf of the Russian Federation of the sale of federal property and (or) on the performance of the functions of the seller of federal property;
11) exhausting the exclusive right to trademarks in relation to goods according to the list determined by the Government of the Russian Federation, the copyright holders of which are citizens of the United States of America and (or) other foreign States, entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (the predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and/or other foreign countries participate;
12) increase in fees for air navigation services for aircraft of the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries engaged in cargo transportation when they use the airspace of the Russian Federation;
13) prohibition or restriction of export from the territory of the Russian Federation by citizens of the United States of America and (or) other foreign States, entities under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states, as well as organizations in whose capital directly or indirectly, including through third parties (the predominant participation of more than 25 percent in the capital), organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States of America and/or other foreign countries, products and equipment made of rare earth metals participate;
14) prohibition or restriction on employment in the Russian Federation of citizens of the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, including as highly qualified specialists;
15) prohibition or restriction of import into the territory of the Russian Federation of medicinal products or medicinal products produced in the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, according to the list of such products and products determined by the Government of the Russian Federation. The above prohibition or restriction does not apply to medicinal products and medicinal products, analogues of which are not produced in the Russian Federation and/or foreign countries;
16) prohibition or restriction of import into the territory of the Russian Federation of any other goods produced in the United States of America and (or) other foreign countries, according to the list determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Article 3. Procedure for Introduction of Measures of Influence (Counteraction)
1. The measures of influence provided for by this Federal Law shall be introduced in the event of cases and (or) actions by the United States of America and (or) other foreign states aimed at diminishing the territorial integrity, security of the Russian Federation, as well as economic destabilization in the Russian Federation.
2. The measures of influence provided for by this Federal Law are introduced by the Government of the Russian Federation by decision of the President of the Russian Federation.
3. The measures of influence provided for by this Federal Law may be introduced as necessary from among those listed in Article 2 of this Federal Law or simultaneously.
4. The measures of influence provided for by this Federal Law shall be canceled by the Government of the Russian Federation by decision of the President of the Russian Federation in case of elimination of the circumstances that served as the basis for their introduction.

Article 4. Specifics of application of this Federal Law
1. If the United States of America and/or other foreign states apply the national regime provided for by international treaties in respect of goods, works, services originating from the Russian Federation and/or the introduction of exemptions therefrom, the President of the Russian Federation may decide on the application of the national regime by the Russian Federation in respect of goods, works, services originating from said states and/or the introduction of exemptions therefrom.
2. Prohibitions and restrictions on the import into the territory of the Russian Federation of goods specified in paragraphs 1, 2, 15 and 16 of Article 2 of this Federal Law do not apply to the import of such goods by citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons for personal use.
3. The Government of the Russian Federation, the highest executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to take and implement measures to attract investments from foreign countries that do not support the illegal and unfriendly actions of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states into the economy of the Russian Federation.

During the day of sanctions, Russian ICT companies lost billions

The fall in shares of Russian companies did not pass by telecommunications operators and Internet holdings. During the day of capitalization of Veon, MTS, Megafon, Yandex, Mail.ru Group and others fell by $4.85 billion^[30].

The fall was reflected in Russian companies from the telecommunications and Internet sectors. American depositary receipts (ADR) for shares of Mobile Telesystems (MTS) fell 11.6% to $9.72 per receipt, the company's capitalization fell $1.13 billion per day.

Shares of Yandex (owner of the Russian Yandex) on the American NASDAQ exchange fell 9.7% to $35.57 per security (hereinafter quotes and capitalization calculations are given as of the time between 20:00 and 21:00 Moscow time). The company's capitalization per day decreased by $1.13 billion.

Quotations of global depositary distributions (GDR) for shares of VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) on the London Stock Exchange decreased by 10.8% to $33 per receipt. The company's capitalization decreased by $880 million.

GDR on Megafon shares, also traded on the London Stock Exchange, fell 10.46% to $8.9 per receipt. The company's capitalization decreased by $644 million.

The Veon group, operating in Russia under the Beeline brand, shares on the NASDAQ exchange fell 13.8% to $2.3 per security. The company's capitalization fell by $579 million.

At AFK Sistema, the controlling shareholder of MTS, GDR on the London Stock Exchange fell 9.5% to $3.55. The company's capitalization decreased by $178 million.

At the Qiwi payment system, shares on the NASDAQ exchange fell 5.44% to $17.5 per security. The company's capitalization decreased by $67 million.

Shares of Rostelecom on the Moscow Exchange decreased by 4.6% to 64.6 rubles. The company's capitalization fell by 7.3 billion rubles. Taking into account the official rate of the Central Bank as of April 10, 2018, 58.57 rubles for $1, this amount is $124 million.

Thus, in just one day, the capitalization of Russian telecommunications and Internet companies on Western stock markets fell, according to CNews, by $4.72 billion. Taking into account the fall in Rostelecom shares on the Moscow Stock Exchange, the total losses of these companies in capitalization amounted to $4.847 billion.

Sanctions against the heads of Roskomnadzor, Skolkovo, co-owners of Megafon, Platon and Mail.ru Group

The US Treasury Department has published an addendum to the list of Russian persons and organizations on which sanctions have been imposed, the motive of which is Russia's actions in Ukraine. The updated list, published on the website of the US Treasury, includes, in particular, the head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov^[31] of ^[32].

In 2014, the United States was included in the sanctions list of Assistant to the President of Russia and former Minister of Communications Igor Shchegolev, whose deputy Zharov was in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications.

The news of Zharov's inclusion in the sanctions list coincided with the message Roskomnadzor about the filing of Moscow a blocking lawsuit with the Tagansky District Court. messenger Telegram The agency demands to block the messenger in connection with the refusal of the owners of the resource to transfer FSB the keys enciphering of messages of their users.

Also under the sanctions was the chairman of the board of directors of the Renova group and the president of the Skolkovo Foundation Viktor Vekselberg. Among other things, the Renova group includes the telecommunications operator Akado. The Renova group itself was also under sanctions.

Among the persons who fell under the sanctions, one can note the entrepreneur. Igor Rotenberg Among its assets are the company RT Invest Transport Systems"," the operator of the system for collecting fees from trucks Platon"," and the operator of remote sensing of the Earth Scanex"."

Among the defendants in the sanctions list can be seen State Duma deputy Andrei Skoch. He is a partner of Alisher Usmanov, owner of the USM holding, who controls, among other things, Megafon and VK (formerly Mail.ru Group). Formally, shares in these companies are owned by Andrei Skoch, the father of deputy Andrei Skoch.

Persons included in the sanctions lists are punished by freezing all assets in the United States, in which their total share exceeds 50%. In addition, US residents are prohibited from entering into any transactions with such persons.

Of the Russian politicians, the following persons were included in the updated sanctions list: Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, head of the Russian Guard and former head of the Presidential Security Service Viktor Zolotov, former Prime Minister and ex-head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, Governor of the Tula Region and former security guard of Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Dyumin, presidential representative in the Southern Federal District and former Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, Secretary of the Security Council and former head of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev and former head of the Russian Football Union Sergei Fursenko.

Also on the sanctions list were: Head of the Office of the President for Cooperation with the CIS States Oleg Govorun, State Adviser, Commissioner for Anti-Corruption Checks Yevgeny Shkolov, Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Extremism Timur Valiulin, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev, State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik and Senator Alexander Torshin.

Of the businessmen, the president RUSAL"" and the owner of the company "Basic Element" Oleg Deripaska, the owner of the Nafta- group, Moscow Suleyman Kerimov the president of the bank VTB Andrei Kostin, the chairman of the board "," Gazprom Alexey Miller the co-owner of the company "" (Sibur Kirill Shamalov the agency Reuters called him a former son-in-law), Vladimir Putin the head "" and Surgutneftegas Vladimir Bogdanov the chairman of the board of directors "."Gazprombank Andrei Akimov

Among the Russian companies under sanctions were Oleg Deripaska-owned companies Basic Element, En +, Russian Machines and Agroholding Kuban. Also included in the sanctions list was Rosoboronexport, the structure of Rostec.

Targets for US sanctions: 210 people from the "Kremlin report"

At the end of January 2018, the Ministry of Finance USA released the so-called "Kremlin report" Russia on senior officials and businessmen close to the leadership. The list included 210 people.

The list is not sanctioned (freezing assets, a ban on entry into the United States, etc. Measures will not be taken), but may "form the basis of new decisions of the White House." The preparation of the report was provided for by the law adopted in the summer of 2017, and is not a new step by the United States in the confrontation with Russia.

 According to the former coordinator of the sanctions policy of the State Department, Daniel Fried, the participants in the list have increased chances of falling under US sanctions. In a conversation with Kommersant, Fried clarified that some American and European banks may consider that working with the participants in the list may be "associated with higher risks."^[33]

So, the "Kremlin report" included the heads of the presidential administration, government (including ministers), heads of state corporations and large business groups. Among them are a number of people associated with the IT industry, in particular, the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab Evgeny Kaspersky, co-owner of Yandex Arkady  Volozh, founder of the ru-NetLeonid   Boguslavsky fund and owner of Rambler & CoAlexander Mamut and controlling shareholder of the system  integrator R-Style Alexander  Klyachin.

In addition, the list includes a former co-owner, VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) Yuri Milner Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Nikolay Nikiforov adviser to the President of the Russian Federation on development issues, Internet German Klimenko presidential aide, Igor Shchegolev owners of the company "" and.Technoserv Aleksei Dmitry Ananyevs

The document says that the "secret part" of the report includes persons who were not included in the first (state persons) and second ("oligarchs") part of the list. Those involved in the "secret list" can be of lower rank than federal officials or have a fortune of less than one billion dollars. No other details are given about the "secret part."

Participants in the delivery of Siemens turbines to Crimea on the US sanctions list

USA expanded at the beginning of 2018 the "Russian" sanctions list (SDN, Specially Designated Nationals List. - Kommersant"), including, in particular, companies and individuals involved in the supply of gas turbines to Crimea Siemens for projects for the construction of the Balaklava and Tauride TPPs (" anti-Crimean "restrictions of Western countries prohibit such supplies). This number includes all those who were included in their sanctions list back in 2017. European Union But Washington the engineering company "" added to the black list of the EU Alexey Mordashov : Power machines it is its joint venture with Siemens that produces such turbines in the Russian Federation. However, lawyers believe that American sanctions will not interfere with the work of this joint venture, unless, after the United States, sanctions on Power Machines are imposed. Prior to Brussels that, only the EU introduced separate sanctions on the "turbine scandal."

American The SDN "black list" (persons with whom American companies and citizens are prohibited from doing business) includes the controlled "VO To RostecTechnopromexport LLC" (TPE), which is a contractor for TPPs in Crimea, its general director Sergei Topor-Gilka, as well as two officials - Ministry of Energy of the Russian federation Deputy Minister Andrei Cherezov (in particular, oversees the power of Crimea) and the head of the department of operational control in the electric power industry of the Ministry of Energy Yevgeny Grabchak. But the States added to the list one of the largest engineering companies in the Russian Federation - Power Machines LLC, the owner of Severstal Alexei Mordashov, to which EU sanctions do not apply.

Recall that the joint venture Power Machines and Siemens - Siemens Gas Turbine Technologies LLC (STGT) - produces high-capacity gas turbines under a German license in St. Petersburg, the Russian Federation does not have such its own technology. The turbines from the joint venture were bought by another Rostec structure of VO Technopromexport OJSC, they were intended for the TPP project in Taman (Krasnodar Territory), which has not yet started. Then TPE OJSC resold the turbines to the eponymous LLC (according to the official version, while the equipment was "finalized"), and already in 2017 the LLC transported them to Crimea. Siemens and its structures demand the return of equipment in Russian courts, but so far unsuccessfully (the last time the Germans were refused in January, and the court separately indicated in the decision that Western sanctions bans on the territory of the Russian Federation were unacceptable).

In addition, America has included in the SDN list a number of lesser-known structures registered in Russia, South Ossetia, Poland and Ukraine, associated either with persons already on the list or with those entered there now. Among them, in particular, JSC VAD is a large construction company, the general contractor for the construction of the Tavrida highway from Kerch to Simferopol and Sevastopol. In addition, a number of structures, judging by the names, may be associated with the coal industry (earlier it was reported about the existence of some "gray" schemes for the resale of coal from the DPR and LPR).

A separate list of Ministry of Finance the United States amended sectoral sanctions - they prohibit economic cooperation with certain companies of the Russian Federation in a number of industries, including in; Energy industry apply to almost all large oilgas companies of the Russian Federation, both state and private. Formally, the introduction of the parent company of the group extends the sanctions to all its subsidiaries, but the US Treasury regularly expands the black lists, including individual companies of sub-sanction holdings.

Now the list separately mentions a number of structures of Surgutneftegaz (already under US sanctions, they did not promptly respond to Kommersant's request), including one of the largest Kirish Oil Refinery (KINEF) in the Russian Federation, a number of trading companies of the group, Surgutneftegazbank, Media-Invest LLC. Media-Invest is one of the founders of National Media Groups NMG and at the time formations of the company in 2008 owned 8.71% of NMG. Co-owners of NMG are the bank Russia"," the largest shareholder of which is (Yuri Kovalchuk the bank and personally a businessman under sanctions since 2014), "," "Severstal and Surgutneftegas. SOGAZ Insurance Group NMG owns 25% of Channel One, a TV channel, REN TV 98.32% of the holding "." "Sectoral News sanctions of the US Treasury will not have a negative impact on the business activities of NMG," a source familiar with the situation told Kommersant. The NMG itself declined to comment. We also note that the sanctions did not prevent NMG from becoming a partner of American broadcasters Discovery and Turner.

At first glance, the new sanctions should not seriously hit the business of Surgutneftegazbank and its clients. The bank will not be able to fully operate in Western markets, which, in principle, it does not do in large volumes now. For example, we are talking about a ban on transactions with newly issued shares and debts for longer than 14 days. Even if the sanctions, when specified, turn out to be tougher, Surgutneftegazbank is a settlement center for the Surgutneftegaz financial and industrial group, and a high probability of financial support for the bank if necessary. Bank customers - individuals - are also mainly employees of the parent company and its structures, which guarantees a minimum outflow of customers if, for example, international payment systems Visa and MasterCard refuse to cooperate with Surgutneftegazbank.

Official statement of PJSC "Power Machines"

The US sanctions against the CM themselves are illegal and contradict the norms of the World Trade Organization, which includes the United States and Russia.

As for the formal side of the grounds for inclusion in the sanctions list, they are far-fetched and absolutely untrue. Power Machines as a minority shareholder - 35% with a majority shareholder of Siemens - 65% are included in the joint venture (JV) Siemens Gas Turbine Technology. All JV management is nominated by Siemens, and all decisions, including the conclusion of contracts, are made by Siemens representatives. The main turbine components produced by Siemens JV come from Germany. The turbines of this joint venture were transferred under the contract to OJSC Foreign Economic Association Technopromexport, but in the future, as it turned out, in violation of the terms of the contract, these units were delivered to Crimea. The Power Machines company had nothing to do with the conclusion of this contract. Also, we were not aware of the route of forwarding the supply of these turbines. In this regard, the joint venture filed a lawsuit in a Russian court against its counterparties because of the shipment of turbines for other purposes, which was widely reported in the media. At the same time, Siemens is not presented with any claims by the US authorities, and it is not included in the sanctions list. Isn't it strange logic? Apparently, the Russian company should be punished, even if it has nothing to do with it.

The statement of the US Treasury Department about the alleged public statement of the general director of PJSC Power Machines about the support of infrastructure projects in Crimea is absolutely untrue. Representatives of the Council of Ministers have never made any statements on this matter at all. In this regard, we hope that US government departments will nevertheless take a constructive position, objectively understand the situation and lift unreasonable sanctions from PJSC Power Machines.

SAP, Symantec, and McAfee Source Code Disclosure to Russian Authorities

On January 25, 2018, Reuters reported that SAP, Symantec and McAfee agreed to disclose to the Russian Ministry of Defense the source codes of some of their software products to search for vulnerabilities that hackers could use to hack into IT systems. Read more here.

Limited sales of Microsoft software due to sanctions

In January 2018, it became known that Russian Microsoft distributors imposed restrictions on the sale of software due to US sanctions.

According to Reuters news agency, citing a notice distributed by Merlion and RRC (Microsoft partners), distributors have limited shipments of Microsoft software products for more than 200 Russian firms. This decision was made after the next round of Washington sanctions against Moscow.

According to the publication, at the end of November 2017, Merlion published a message on its website that orders for Microsoft software for financial sector companies will be carried out only after confirming the full prepayment. For customers from the defense sector, the IT distributor demanded a guarantee of payment for the order within 30 days after the delivery of Microsoft licenses, for the energy segment - within 60 days.

If we do not receive from you supporting payment documents on orders of the defense and energy sectors, then the order can be regarded by the vendor as inappropriate to the processing process and rejected without explaining the reasons, Merlion said in a statement.

RRC issued a notice of limited sales of Microsoft software in December 2017. The report spoke of a warning about the introduction of "serious restrictions" on the placement and payment of orders, but did not specify what exactly was in question.

If you have buyers from the following sectors of the economy (financial, defense, energy), and they are included in the sanctions list, please contact your RRC manager in advance for further instructions, the agency quotes the message.

Both distributors, as the reason for the restrictions imposed, indicate the new rules that follow from the US sanctions package adopted on August 2, 2017 for the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the alleged cyber attacks and entered into force on November 28.

Merlion and the RRC did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Microsoft reported the following:

Microsoft is firmly committed to legal compliance and has a strong worldwide compliance order in place to ensure compliance by our partners.

The OFAC bureau (Office of Foreign Assets Control, the structure of the US Treasury responsible for sanctions enforcement) reminded Reuters that American companies can conduct operations with firms from the sectoral sanctions list if the payment period for goods and services does not exceed the deadlines for financing specified in the directives.

In the event that a U.S. individual or entity believes it cannot receive the payment in full by the end of the relevant period, it must contact OFAC for a license or other authorization, the instruction states.

Reuters recalls that for non-compliance with sanctions in the United States can be fined in the amount of $250 thousand or in double the amount of an illegal transaction - whichever is greater. If the court decides that the violation was intentional, the offender faces a fine of up to $1 million or 20 years in prison, or both punishments.

By January 22, 2018, Microsoft has Russia nine official distributors of the company's main products in the same partner category as RRC and Merlion. It also includes. Softline

Reuters sources say that Russian companies that are under sanctions are striving to bypass them - they are looking for intermediaries to cooperate with the Americans and "unfilled business units."^[34]

Microsoft expects a market loss of several billion dollars, Nikolai Nikiforov, head of the Ministry of Communications of Russia, told media representatives at a forum in Davos. The minister's words were quoted by the Interfax news agency. By the "market of several billion dollars" Nikiforov means "corporate state clients" from Russia, which the company tightened the conditions for obtaining its software products in connection with US sanctions. According to the minister, Microsoft will lose not only payments under licenses, but also proceeds from a number of other services that it provides in Russia independently or through partners. Nikiforov calls what is happening "a completely useless story in terms of the very expediency of these sanctions" and wonders "what is the practical meaning of this," Interfax reports.

2017

Oracle tightened working conditions with VEB, VTB, Sberbank, Gazprom, Lukoil, Rostec due to sanctions

In November 2017, Oracle warned its partners about changes in the terms of sectoral sanctions against Russian companies adopted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Starting November 28, 2017, Oracle reduced the time for full payment of its goods and services for customers from the Russian financial sector from 30 to 14 days after the invoice. This rule must be observed by companies distributing its products to these customers^[35] to^[36]

The Russian financial institutions specified in the sanctions Directive 1 fall under the new provision. That is, changes in Oracle's settlement policy will affect, Sberbank,, VTB,, Vnesheconombank Rosselkhozbank"," "" and GazprombankBank of MoscowKorus consulting others.

In addition to financiers, companies in the energy sector and other sectors of the economy will fall under the new rules: Transneft, Novafininvest, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Surgutneftegas, Lukoil, Novatek, Rostec, Siberian Oil Company, etc.

The norm applies not only to these companies, but also to those enterprises where they own a controlling stake, even if these structures are based outside of Russia. In addition, the rule applies to transactions carried out through partners. By signing an agreement with Oracle, these buyers must express their consent to fulfill the requirements.

Microsoft and Cisco helped ease US sanctions on FSB

The US authorities have weakened the sanctions regime against the FSB of Russia, follows from the document "General License Number 1," which was published by the sanctions unit of the US Treasury Department (OFAC) in early February 2017. The document affects some of the licensing issues of American information products imported into Russia, which are dealt with by the FSB and which were previously prohibited by executive orders of the US President.

According to the Financial Times, sanctions against the FSB were eased, among other things, due to complaints from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco^[37]. After the imposition of sanctions, American technology companies expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that sanctions against the FSB prevent them from obtaining the necessary documentation to conduct trade with Russia.

The restrictions imposed prevented companies from exporting products to the Russian Federation "like mobile phones or tablets," as well as "consumer and non-secret software with a low level of encryption."

The US Treasury noted that these complaints began to arrive the very day after the introduction of the previous American administrations of sanctions against the FSB. When supplying mobile devices to the Russian Federation, contacts with the Russian department are needed, but they were banned, which harmed exports.

After that, the Ministry of Finance, one of whose divisions is responsible for the sanctions policy in the United States, began consultations with the private sector "to determine what can be resolved by maintaining sanctions against the FSB."

US sanctions against the FSB created a risk for the supply of electronics to Russia

US sanctions against the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), imposed by former President Barack Obama at the very end of 2016, could have unintended consequences for American companies and Russian consumers. The import into Russia of any devices with an encryption function - and these are mobile phones, tablets, and even ordinary wireless mice - is subject to mandatory agreement with the FSB (the so-called notification), but American suppliers are now prohibited from any commercial interaction with the Russian special service.

For example, Baker McKenzie lawyers warned their clients about the risk of administrative contacts with the FSB and wrote in the Thomson Reuters blog, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting service specialist Mary Breed. "Since the FSB performs certain administrative functions, such as the consideration and approval of commercial encryption products for import and distribution in Russia, the effect on certain American companies and individuals doing business in Russia may be significant," wrote Baker McKenzie lawyers, adding that US technology companies may now need to apply for permission to OFAC (US Treasury Sanctions Service. - RBC) to submit relevant documents to^[38] RBC FSB^[39].

2016

US imposes new sanctions against Russia in connection with cyber attacks

On December 29, 2016, United States President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions on Russia and expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the country, explaining this by cyber attacks on election systems that allegedly originated from the Russian Federation.

Administrative Decree# 13694 authorizes sanctions against companies and persons responsible for or contributing to malicious actions related to the use of cyber means that caused or could cause significant damage to national security, foreign policy, as well as the financial and economic stability of the United States, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.[40]

Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on a number of Russian citizens and organizations. In particular, the head of the GRU Igor Korobov, the first deputy head of the GRU Vladimir Alekseev, the deputy head of the GRU Sergei Gizunov and the first deputy head of the GRU Vladimir Alekseev fell under the sanctions.

Also on the sanctions list are directly the FSB, GRU, Special Technological Center, Zelenograd Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Professional Association of Informatics System Designers" (ANO PO KSI), Special Technological Center LLC (STC) from St. Petersburg and the company "COR Security" (formerly Esage Lab).

Two more Russian citizens from this list - Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev - are called hackers by the FBI and have long been put on the international wanted list. Law enforcement agencies suspect Belan and Bogachev of extortion, computer hacking, theft of personal data and other types of fraud.

In addition to sanctions, Russian embassies  in Maryland  and New York were closed in the United States. The authorities explained this by the fact that diplomatic missions are engaged in intelligence. 35 Russian diplomats, declared persona non grata, were given 72 hours to leave the country.

Access to the two facilities said to have been used to gather intelligence will be closed to all Russian officials starting at 8pm on Friday, December 30.

The Russian State Duma, commenting on the decision on sanctions and the expulsion of diplomats, said that this decision "resembles the agony of Barack Obama's outgoing team.

This is very disturbing news indeed. This all resembles a kind of agony of the Obama team, which is trying to create difficulties for building relations between our leadership and the new US administration , with Trump. It creates additional difficulties for him, which he will then have to overcome,  "Alexei Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told RIA Novosti.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow will give an adequate response to new sanctions from the United States. The Kremlin spokesman found it difficult to outline the nature of the response, but noted that it would be based on the principle of reciprocity.

This answer will be formulated in line with the direction that the President of the Russian Federation will determine, - said Peskov (quoted by RIA Novosti).[41]

The US has repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in the presidential campaign to help Donald Trump win the election. According to the assumptions of representatives of the American authorities, in July 2016, Russian hackers hacked the servers of the National Committee of the Democratic Party, as well as the party committee for elections to Congress. Suspicions were also expressed that Russia could try to influence the voting process by hacking counting machines.

The report, published on December 29, 2016 by the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, reports that hackers allegedly associated with Russian intelligence services carried out two attacks against an unnamed American party in the summer of 2015 and spring of 2016. Cyber attacks continued and the latter was recorded in November 2016.

The report also provides technical details about the tools and logistical base allegedly used by military and non-military intelligence services to influence both the course of American elections "and a number of government, political and private organizations."^[42]

On December 15, 2016, the Obama administration announced that Vladimir Putin could have been personally involved in Russian cyber attacks, and they will take action as soon as they find evidence and fully analyze the reports of the special services.

Bloomberg economists predicted the imminent easing of anti-Russian sanctions

The United States will ease sanctions against Russia in the coming year, according to 55% of respondents surveyed by Bloomberg^[43]. This figure is 10% higher than a similar study conducted in October 2016 by^[44].

If sanctions are lifted, analysts say Russian GDP growth will increase by 0.2 percentage points in 2017 and 0.5 percentage points in 2018.

"It remains to be seen whether the US sanctions will weaken the EU after them, but there is an order to ease restrictions or force them less, which can reduce financial costs," said Rachel Zemba, head of emerging markets at 4Cast-RGE.

US expands sanctions against Russia

The United States has expanded sanctions against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine. This is stated in a statement by the US Department of Finance^[45][46]

The expanded sanctions list includes seven individuals: President of the National Media Group Kirill Kovalchuk, members of the Board of Directors of Rossiya Joint-Stock Bank Dmitry Lebedev, Mikhail Klishin and Dmitry Mansurov, top manager of the same bank, Mikhail Dedov, Chairman of the Board of Sobinbank Oleg Minaev and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. The US Treasury notes that Prigozhin has "extensive business ties with the Ministry of Defense," and a company associated with him is building a military base near the Ukrainian border.

Also, a number of companies fell under the sanctions, including Stroyproekt, State Unitary Enterprise Crimean Seaports, Crimean Railway, RosChemTrade LLC, Transpetrochart, Karst LLC, Solid LLC, Trans-Fleet LLC,

In addition, sea vessels - oil tankers Marshal Zhukov and Stalingrad - were added to the sanctions list for the first time.

The list of companies under the influence of sectoral sanctions includes subsidiaries of Rosselkhozbank and NOVATEK. Among them are Beloglinsky Elevator OJSC, Khomyakovsky Refrigeration Plant CJSC, Ladoga Elevator OJSC, Novatek-Kostroma LLC, Novatek-Perm LLC, Rassvet OJSC, Rovnensky Elevator OJSC, Yargeo LLC. These companies are subject to the same restrictions as the parent companies. In fact, the subsidiaries of Rosselkhozbank and NOVATEK were already under sanctions (since the parent companies included in the sectoral list own a share of more than 50%). The inclusion of subsidiaries in the list is now designed to facilitate the task of complying with the sanctions regime for American companies.

Aktivs individuals and organizations that are blacklisted will be frozen in the United States, US residents are prohibited from having relations with them.

Arrest of Russians in the United States on charges of illegal export of technology

On October 6, 2016, it became known about the arrest in the United States of two Russian citizens on charges of illegal export of technology. The Russian Embassy began to find out the circumstances of the incident.

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing a report from the US Department of Justice, Russians 33-year-old Dmitry Karpenko and 27-year-old Alexei Krutilin were detained in Denver, from where they were transferred to be detained in the eastern district of New York.

Together with them, a naturalized US citizen, 36-year-old Alexei Baryshev, was also detained, who was charged with creating two fictitious firms with the aim of stealing high-tech goods, the export of which is strictly limited.

Baryshev, Karpenko, Krutilin and others conspired to acquire technologically advanced microelectronics from manufacturers and suppliers located in the United States and export high-tech products to Russia, evading the licensing system created by the US government to control such exports, the US Department of Justice said.

We are talking about microelectronics such as integrated circuits and digital-analog signal converters, often used in military systems, including radars and surveillance systems, as well as missile guidance systems and satellites.

According to the US Department of Justice, Baryshev and his accomplices introduced themselves as employees of the created shell firms and provided false information about the final recipient.

In addition, in order to hide the true purpose of controlled microelectronics from the United States, the accused sent supplies first to Finland and then to Russia.

The accused Russians and the American face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

The press secretary of the Russian diplomatic mission, Yury Melnik, said that the Russian Embassy in the United States is investigating the circumstances of the detention of two Russian citizens on suspicion of illegal transfer of secret technologies to Russia.

Under US sanctions, Angstrom, Micron, Mikran, Radioexport

On September 7, 2016, it became known about the imposition of sanctions by the US authorities against the Russian companies Micron, Angstrom, Mikran, Foreign Economic Association Radioexport, etc. The assets of enterprises in the United States are frozen, the export of technology to these structures is limited.

There are 81 companies on the US sanctions list, most of which are registered in the Russian Federation. The American authorities decided to punish them for the annexation of Crimea to Russia. The list includes 11 more companies.

Among them, the company "Micron" (through the holding RTI GROUP it belongs to AFK) "System" and the group's enterprises: OJSC Angstrom, and Angstrom Angstrom-T Angstrom-M, the United States^[47]

The list includes the Mikran company, the Moscow manufacturer of the electronic radio component base Foreign Economic Association Radioexport (part of the Rostec state corporation), the manufacturer of onboard aircraft complexes Perm Scientific and Production Instrument-Making Corporation (PNPPK).

In addition to them, previously unknown firms appear in the list: St. Petersburg NGO Granat, Giovanni and Technopole. The latter two are registered in India and Hong Kong.

The property of enterprises on the sanctions list is subject to "freezing" in the United States. Technology supplies for these companies are limited. Exceptions are canceled.

2015

Russian IT companies are included in the US sanctions list - Sber Tech, RT-Inform, Korus Consulting CIS

On December 22, 2015, the United States significantly expanded the "black" and sectoral sanctions lists against Russia. This was reported by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the Ministry of Finance.

Companies and banks actively working in Crimea, as well as those associated with the current persons on the list - Genbank, Krayinvestbank, Inresbank, Mosoblbank, Technopromexport, Volgogradneftemash and others - have been added to the "black list" (Specially Designated Nationals, SDN).

The less stringent list of sectoral sanctions (Sectoral Sanctions Identifications, SSI), in particular, included several technology companies: owned by Sberbank, Sberbank-Technologies Yandex-Money and Sberbank (formerly Korus Consulting CIS)"," included in the "concerns,,,,," "Rostec "Russian Electronics" "Sirius" "Orion" Novosibirsk semiconductor RT-Inform device plant with a special design bureau," owned by VTB the processing company "."MultiKarta

Sberbank, VTB and Rostec were included in the sanctions lists in September 2014. Their subsidiaries, the list of which was made public on December 22, 2015, are subject to the same funding restrictions as their parent companies.

"To maintain the effect of our measures, we need to periodically update our lists to protect the integrity of our sanctions. We do not see today's action as an escalation. This is a routine step to strengthen the implementation of existing measures, "US Embassy spokesman William Stevens commented on the expansion of sanctions to Interfax.

He called the expansion of the sanctions regime a normal process. In his opinion, companies against which the United States previously imposed sanctions "are trying to find ways to bypass restrictions and are trying to avoid sanctions."

U.S. List Update

In August 2015, 11 new persons appeared on the "black" sanctions list, including Boris Rotenberg's son Roman, Gennady Timchenko's former partner at Gunvor and former co-owner of Surgutex trader Petr Kolbin, Viktor Yanukovych's son Alexander and Ukrainian tycoon Sergei Kurchenko, who was put on the international wanted list. With these people and with 15 companies (Crimean ports, Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, Finnish Airfix Aviation and Cypriot IPP Oil Products, formerly owned by Gennady Timchenko; Langvik Capital), who have added to this list, American companies and citizens are prohibited from any interaction^[48].

More than 30 companies have joined the less stringent sectoral list, including VEB subsidiaries - the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), VEB-Leasing, VEB Capital, the North Caucasus Development Corporation, the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (ESCAR), Roseximbank, the Far East Development Fund. And also Rosneft - RN-Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft Finance, Rosneft Trading, Oil-Asset, Rosneft-controlled All-Russian Regional Development Bank.

For each of these companies, it is separately indicated under which directive it falls, the bans comply with the sanctions of their parent companies. For example, it is forbidden to provide RDIF financing for a period of more than 30 days (like VEB). Rosneft Finance - more than 90 days, prohibited from selling equipment, technologies and services for exploration and production on the Arctic shelf, deep-sea areas and shale fields.

Ministry of Finance USA explained that the current restrictions prohibit US citizens or persons in the United States from making all transactions with Crimea. But sometimes in the documents on such transactions, references to the Crimea or Crimean addresses are omitted. This was identified in SWIFT messages. In foreign trade documents, Crimean companies are sometimes called Russian, which misleads American partners.

IT blockade of Crimea

Main article: IT blockade of Crimea

2014: First versions of sanctions lists

In connection with the events on, To Ukraine USA the EU, Canada, as well as the authorities of Kyiv imposed sanctions against a number of Russian politicians, entrepreneurs and companies. The sanctions lists have been repeatedly expanded and supplemented by^[49].

Restrictions imposed by sanctions

USA

With companies and citizens on the Black Sanctions List USA (SDN), American companies and citizens are prohibited from any interaction.

Companies on the Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI) list are prohibited from conducting all transactions, providing debt financing, as well as other transactions with new debt for more than 30 days. Prohibited operations can be carried out only with the permission of OFAC.

Notes