US developments - Executive Order 13660 10 March 2014 & Executive Order 13661 17 March 2014
On 10 March 2014 the US President issued Executive Order 13660 as a response to the actions and policies of persons described as asserting governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine, and other actions and policies that undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine, threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets.
EO 13660 empowers the blocking of property and imposition of visa bans on persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
- to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, any of the following:
- actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine;
- actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine; or
- misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine or of an economically significant entity in Ukraine;
- to have asserted governmental authority over any part or region of Ukraine without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine;
- to be a leader of an entity that has, or whose members have, engaged in any activity described in (i) or (ii) above or of an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the EO;
- to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activity described in (i) or (ii) above or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the EO; or
- to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the EO.
On 17 March, the following designations were made pursuant to the powers vested under Executive Order 13660:
- Sergey Aksyonov – described as a Crimea-based separatist leader, now claiming to be the Prime Minister of Crimea;
- Vladimir Konstantinov – described as a Crimea-based separatist leader;
- Viktor Medvedchuk - leader of Ukrainian Choice, described as a group which has been stirring conflict in Kherson, a province to the north of Crimea. Medvedchuk is described as a friend and adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin;
- Viktor Yanukovych - Former President of Ukraine.
On 17 March 2014 the US President issued Executive Order 13661 as a response to the deployment of Russian Federation military forces in the Crimea region of Ukraine, and other action and policies which are said to undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine, threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets.
With immediate effect, EO 13661 imposes an asset freeze on the following persons:
- the persons listed in the Annex to the EO; and
- persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
- to be an official of the Government of the Russian Federation;
- to operate in the arms or related material sector in the Russian Federation;
- to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly:
- a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation; or
- a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the EO; or
- to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of:
- a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation; or
- a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the EO.
Persons listed in the Annex are additionally subject to a visa ban prohibiting their entry into the United States.
In EO 13661, “person” is defined as “an individual or entity”, the term “entity” defined as “a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization”, and "Government of the Russian Federation" defined as “the Government of the Russian Federation, any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including the Central Bank of the Government of the Russian Federation, and any person owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, the Government of the Russian Federation”. The following seven individuals have been designated pursuant to EO 13661:
- Vladislav Surkov: Presidential aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin;
- Sergey Glazyev: Presidential adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin;
- Leonid Slutsky: State Duma deputy, where he is Chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots;
- Andrei Klishas: Member of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Federation Council Committee of Constitutional Law, Judicial, and Legal Affairs, and the Development of Civil Society;
- Valentina Matviyenko: Head of the Federation Council;
- Dmitry Rogozin: Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation;
- Yelena Mizulina: State Duma Deputy.
The situation in Ukraine remains unstable. There is a real possibility of further sanctions being imposed, although it is not clear at this time whether those would extend to trade prohibitions.
Copies of the relevant EU regulations and US executive orders, and various fact sheets and press releases issued by the EU, HMT and US can be downloaded from the links set out below.
