In the few weeks before the inauguration of the new U.S. President, the SDN list saw several significant updates. On January 10 and January 15, as part of the Russia sanctions regime, OFAC and the U.S. Department of State designated numerous companies from the oil and gas, insurance and financial sectors adding them to the SDN list.

Today, the EU Council published the 15th package of sanctions against Russian companies and individuals. In addition to new listings of Russian entities and individuals, the European sanctions legislation has been supplemented to include two new rules that must now be taken into account when initiating proceedings in Russian courts.

On October 28, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issued a new general license for the provision of legal services to designated persons of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

In December 2022, certain European bar associations and lawyers, specifically, The Netherlands Bar of Brussels (Ordre néerlandais des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles) (Case No. T-797/22), The Bar Association of the Court of Paris (Ordre des avocats à la cour de Paris) (Case No. T-798/22) and ACE-Avocats (Case No. T-828/22) filed their claims with the General Court of the EU (“EU Court”) contending that the Court should repeal the prohibition on provision of legal advisory services imposed by “sectoral” Council Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 (“Regulation 833/2014”) as part of the 8th package of sanctions. On 2 October 2024, the EU Court decided to uphold the prohibition making a few important conclusions that we include below.

On August 23, OFAC and the U.S. Department of State published an update to the U.S. sanctions list and several general licenses under the sanctions regime against Russia.

At the end of April 2024, legislation ("H.R. 815 Act") was enacted in the U.S. providing for the extension of statute of limitations on violations of sanctions laws from 5 to 10 years.

We continue to monitor the status and development of initiatives related to confiscation of Russian assets in the US and EU. In spring, we published an overview of legal mechanisms and measures for the confiscation of Russian assets in these jurisdictions. Certain changes have occurred since then, which may affect the foreign assets of Russian persons.

On July 31, together with partners from Rimon (USA), RK Partners (Austria), Radcliffe Chambers (UK) we hosted a joint webinar “Right to an Attorney: Understanding U.S., EU and UK Sanctions on Legal Services to Russian Persons”.

On June 21, OFAC added Kaspersky Lab leadership to the SDN List. 12 top managers, including the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer, were targeted by the sanctions. OFAC’s actions are related to the threat to the U.S. cybersecurity.

Last week we reported on a major update to the US sanctions regime, including newly designated entities and individuals. The UK has also updated its sanctions list, adding 42 entities and individuals.

On June 12, OFAC issued a significant update to the SDN list and tightened the US sanctions regulation. It targets the Russian financial infrastructure and Russia’s operations with third countries. The SDN list was also supplemented by the US State Department.

The EU Council has adopted a set of legal acts to utilize the profits from Russian frozen assets in the EU.

Prior to the Council of Europe's adoption, the Directive was approved by the European Parliament on March 12, 2024. It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. EU member states will have 1 year to transpose provisions of the Directive into their national legislation.

The year 2023 was marked by an intensification of sanctions pressure against Russia. According to some estimates, the number of personal sanctions imposed on Russian companies and individuals (“blocking sanctions”) alone is now approaching 20,000. Many countries have also started to develop legal mechanisms aimed at countering the sanctions circumvention. It is not easy to navigate such a large-scale and multifaceted sanctions regime and keep up with the details of how the sanctions are applied in practice. In this review, we present what we consider to be the key developments in the area of sanctions and their application in 2023, in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as likely trends in this area in 2024, which should be taken into account when doing business.

We are pleased to announce the strengthening of our sanctions practice with the addition of senior associate Elvira Khasanova.

KKMP Partner Maxim Kuleshov has participated in the English Law Day in Yerevan, organized by the Eurasian CIS Legal Professionals' Forum in cooperation with the British Embassy in Yerevan and the Bar Council of England and Wales.