Business ties to Russian companies still not cut

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has extended for a fourth time the expiration deadlines of three general licenses involving U.S. business dealings in the oil and gas sector.    The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended for a fourth time the expiration deadlines of three general licenses involving existing U.S. business dealings with several large Russian companies in the oil and gas sector.
   On April 6, OFAC added EN+ Group to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List for being owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, along with other entities he eithers owns or controls. In that same action, the agency designated United Company RUSAL for being owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by EN+.
   The OFAC order initially set a deadline for U.S. persons to end their business relationships with theses Russian entities by June 5, then by Oct. 23 and then by Nov. 12. The agency has extended the deadline now until Dec. 12 to provide more time to “wind down” any existing contracts. The general licenses involving this extension include 13E, 14B and 16B.
   “EN+ and RUSAL have approached the U.S. government about substantial corporate governance changes that could potentially result in significant changes in control,” a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “As the review of these proposals is ongoing, OFAC is extending the expiration date of related licenses until Dec. 12.”    
   However, OFAC said continued use of general licenses 13E, 14B and 16B will be closely monitored. The general licenses require U.S. persons who continue to participate in these transactions since April 6 to file within 10 business days after the general licenses’ expiration date “a comprehensive, detailed report of each transaction, including the names and addresses of parties involved, the type and scope of activities conducted, and the dates on which the activities occurred,” with OFAC’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement in Washington, D.C.