EU approves 14th package of sanctions against Russia

Daria Budova and Xavier Codina from Urìa Menéndez for AT+ICA network

On 24 June the Council of the European Union adopted the 14th package of sanctions against Russia. In addition to making important changes to the due diligence and liability framework that are designed to avoid circumvention of restrictive measures, this latest package changes and expands many aspects of the Russia sanctions program.

Highlights.

Reloading Russian liquefied natural gas and carrying out related services in the territory of the Union for transhipment to third countries is now prohibited, as is importing it through terminals not connected to the interconnected natural gas network.
Connecting to and using the Russian Central Bank’s “System for Transfer of Financial Messages” is also prohibited.
The list of products that cannot be sold to Russia now includes products such as off-road vehicles, antenna amplifiers, digital flight data recorders, certain chemicals (such as manganese ores and rare earth compounds), plastics, excavation machinery, monitors and electrical equipment. A ban on importing helium from Russia has also been introduced.
Sixty-one new entities (based in Russia and third countries such as China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates) have been added to the list of persons, entities and bodies directly supporting the Russian military and industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine, on which tighter export restrictions are imposed.
A number of so-called secondary sanctions have been introduced, including a ban on transactions with persons who use the Russian System for Transfer of Financial Messages; financial and credit institutions and crypto-asset providers that support Russia’s industrial base; and persons who invoke provisions of Russian law that give exclusive jurisdiction to its courts over disputes regarding the restrictive measures.
Restrictions have been imposed on accepting applications by Russian individuals and companies to register certain intellectual property rights, and an “anti-Russia” clause must now be included in some licensing contracts relating to high priority items.
Regarding transport, a prohibition of access to EU ports for vessels contributing to Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine (together with numerous related services) has been established; the restrictions on road-transport services have been extended to include entities in which a Russian individual or legal person owns 25% or more; and non-scheduled flights are also prohibited from landing in , taking off from and overflying the territory of the Union when a Russian individual or legal person decides on the place or time of take-off or landing.
Political parties and foundations, coalitions of political parties, and NGOs – including think tanks and media service providers – in the Union are prohibited from accepting funds or any financial benefit that directly or indirectly originates from Russia.
It is now prohibited to purchase, import, transfer or export goods that form part of Ukrainian cultural heritage when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they have been illegally removed from Ukraine; this prohibition includes related services.
Exceptions to the prohibitions on providing services have been introduced so as not to restrict the right to employment of Union nationals residing in Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine.
Member States may now consider self-reporting of infringements as a mitigating factor when assessing liability.
The requirement for EU companies to obtain authorisation to provide intra-group services to their subsidiaries in Russia has been postponed to 30 September 2024.
The package also opens up the possibility for Union operators to obtain compensation from Russian nationals and entities for damage caused in relation to contracts or transactions that have been affected by the restrictive measures, including damage caused to their subsidiaries.