Three new EU regulations concerning Russia/Ukraine sanctions
The EU has published 3 new regulations in respect of sanctions affecting Ukraine and Russia, which came into effect from 12 September 2014.
Regulation 959/2014
A new ground is introduced upon which the EU can designate individuals or entities for asset freeze under Regulation 269/2014 – "natural or legal persons, entities or bodies conducting transactions with the separatist groups in the Donbass region of Ukraine".
Regulation 960/2014
This regulation amends Regulation 833/2014, implementing:
- further restrictions on the supply of dual use goods to Russia;
- a new prohibition on the supply of certain services necessary for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration and production and shale oil projects in Russia (drilling, well testing, logging and completion services, and supply of specialised floating vessels);
- an extension of the restrictions on access to EU capital and financing markets, so that they now affect financial instruments with a shorter maturity (reduced from 90 days to 30 days) and apply to a wider range of Russian entities, including Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft, and to non-EU subsidiaries that are owned 50% or more by one of the listed entities.
- a prohibition on providing or being part of any arrangement to make certain new loans or credit to the entities which are subject to the restrictions on access to capital markets.
Regulation 961/2014
24 individuals are designated for asset freeze, mainly politicians in Russia and disputed territories such as Luhansk and Donetsk, but also 2 businessmen closely associated with President Putin.
Copies of these new regulations can be downloaded from the links set out below.
