BIS adds seized Crimean company to restricted list

   The U. S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said Monday that it has added a company located in the occupied Crimea region of Ukraine to the Entity List in response to Russian expropriation of the company.
   The Entity List designation imposes a license requirement for the export, re-export or in-country transfer of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to the company, with the presumption of denial.
   The company, Chernomorneftegaz, a.k.a. Chornomornaftogaz and NJSC Chornomornaftogaz, is a regional oil and gas company in Crimea and a subsidiary of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, but its assets are now being overseen by Russian government interests following their seizure by the Crimean parliament.
   “The addition of Chernomorneftegaz to the Entity List sends a strong message of the United States government’s condemnation of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and expropriation of Ukrainian assets,” said Undersecretary of Commerce Eric Hirschhorn.
   The Department of Commerce’s addition of Chernomorneftegaz to the Entity List is being done in conjunction with a parallel action by the Department of the Treasury.
   “Today’s move is consistent with the President’s finding in Executive Order 13660 that the actions and policies of persons who have asserted governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” BIS said in a statement. “In Executive Order 13661 and Executive Order 13662, the President further found that the actions and policies of the Russian government with respect to Ukraine — including the deployment of its military forces to, and purported annexation of, Crimea –undermine Ukraine’s democratic processes and institutions, threaten Ukraine’s peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets.”
   In a related action Monday by the Department of the Treasury, Chernomorneftegaz is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13660 because it is complicit in the misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine or of an economically significant entity in Ukraine.