Sanctions Tracker - U.S. Announces New Sanctions Against Russia, Targeting Yachts And Elites

The Biden administration has announced new sanctions aimed at Russia for its involvement in the ongoing war with Ukraine. In addition to the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia since the Feb. 24 invasion, the new sanctions include the seizure of yachts, luxury apartments, and private jets of wealthy Russians believed to have ties to Putin. Specifically, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) targeted Imperial Yachts, a yacht brokerage based in Monaco that allows superyacht owners, including Russian oligarchs, to charter their yachts. OFAC also targeted a list of individuals with alleged ties to Vladimir Putin, and imposed sanctions on five wealthy Russians, including Alexey Mordashov, one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, and several members of his family and his companies, including Severstal, a major steel producer, and gold miner Nord Gold. OFAC also sanctioned the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. The new sanctions were implemented pursuant to Executive Orders (E.O.) 14024, E.O. 13685, and E.O. 13661, and in tandem with the U.S.’s international partners and allies.

In a move meant to further restrict Russia’s access to military technology, the Department of Commerce also added 71 companies in Russia and Belarus to the so-called Entity List.  In total, 322 entities have been added to the Entity List as a result of the invasion of Ukraine to date.  Of the newly-designated entities, 66 out of 71 have been designated as “footnote 3” entities because of a finding by US authorities that such entities are “military end users” within the meaning of US export controls.  Footnote 3 entities are subject to additional restrictions, including the Russia/Belarus Military End User Foreign Direct Product Rule. The list of restricted entities is available online here.

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