Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, March has seen western powers continue to coordinate their wide-ranging response, designed to cripple the Russian economy via the targeting of Russia’s financial system as well as strategic sectors of its economy. A round up of the measures announced to date is detailed below:
- On 2nd March 2022 OFAC, OFSI and the EU prohibited all transactions involving the Russian Central Bank, the National Wealth Fund and the Ministry of Finance. The EU also formally prohibited the provision of SWIFT services to Bank Otkritite, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, VNESHECONOMBANK and VTB Bank, echoing earlier moves made by OFAC and OFSI.
- OFAC accompanied the above announcement with the designations of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and 12 senior political figures. Days later, Alisher Usmanov, Nikolay Tokarev, Yevgeniy Prigozhin and eight members of their families and seven connected entities, alongside 26 people and entities said to be working for Russian disinformation outlets, were also sanctioned by OFAC.
- On 9th March 2022 the US formally prohibited the importation into the US of Russian crude oil and petroleum-derived products and five days later the ban was extended to include trade in Russian-origin fish, seafood, alcoholic beverages, non-industrial diamonds, luxury goods or any other sector to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. On 14th March 2022 OFAC further designated the board of VTB Bank, 12 Members of the Russian State Duma and Dmitry Peskov’s immediate family. A further 11 key members of Russia’s defence sector were added to the SDN list on 15th March, with OFAC’s final designations of the month coming on 31st March and targeting a network of 17 entities and ten people said to constitute an international “sanctions evasion network”.
- In the UK, the start of the month saw OFSI prohibit access to UK ports by Russian ships, as well as any other ships specified by the Secretary of State. OFSI’s initial oligarch designations included Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, citing close links with the Kremlin. On 9th March 2022 OFSI further amended its Russian sanctions, conferring on the Secretary of State the power to detain any aircraft overflying or landing in the UK that is “connected with Russia”.
- On 10th March 2022 OFSI’s second wave of oligarch designations saw the inclusions as specially designated nationals of Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, Igor Sechin, Andrey Kostin, Alexei Miller, Nikolai Tokarev and Dmitri Lebedev. This was followed by 386 members of the Russian State duma a day later, citing their support for treaties which recognised the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk. On 15th March 2022 OFSI mirrored the US’s ban on exports of high-end luxury goods to Russia, which in the UK context targeted luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art. A further round of designations announced on 31st March included senior military figures alongside those deemed to have participated in misinformation networks.
- The EU’s designations initially targeted 26 oligarchs and people said to be close to President Putin, as well as “propagandists” and Russian military personnel. On 10th March the EU designated 146 members of the Russian Federation Council who had ratified treaties in respect of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as a further 14 people said to be prominent businesspeople close to President Putin. On 15th March the EU designated a further 15 oligarchs working for “pro-Russian” media and nine entities operating in the aviation, military, shipbuilding and machine building sectors.
- In addition to targeting the Russian economy, Western powers have also ramped up their Belarussian sanctions’ programs, with the EU going the furthest. On 3rd March it designated 22 high ranked members of the Belarusian military and prohibited the sale, supply, and export of any military technology to Belarus, the provision of SWIFT services to Belagroprombank, Bank Dabraabbyt and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, as well any euro denominated transactions with any person or entity in Belarus or for use in Belarus.
- On 15th March 2022, the US State Department announced the designations of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his wife, as well as 25 other people deemed to be responsible for undermining democracy in Belarus. OFSI initially imposed sanctions on 41 entities and people in Belarus said to have facilitated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and later added seven companies deemed to be suppliers to the country’s military.
