Commerce hits more Russian companies with trade restrictions

BIS on Friday took additional steps to restrict trade with Russia.    The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Friday announced additional steps to restrict trade with Russia in response to Russia’s continued efforts to destabilize eastern Ukraine.
   The U.S. move came amid the announcement of increased sanctions against Russia by the European Union, which added 24 people to the travel-ban list.
   “Today’s actions are being announced in conjunction with an announcement by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that it is also imposing a new set of targeted prohibitions and designations against a range of Russian entities,” the agency said.
   In specific, BIS will add five entities operating in the Russian Federation’s defense sector to the BIS Entity List. Designation on the Entity List imposes a license requirement for the export, re-export or foreign transfer of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to the designated entities, with a presumption of denial.  
   The entities added to the BIS Entity List include:

• Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern Main System Design Bureau, which is one of the world’s largest defense industry complexes specializing in development of anti-air, anti-missile and space defense systems.
• Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design, which specializes in the development of weapon control systems for fighter planes and mobile medium-range anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile defense vehicles.
• Mytishchinski Mashinostroitelny Zavod, which manufactures and supplies ordnance and accessories, including naval, aircraft, anti-aircraft and field artillery products.
• Kalinin Machine Plant, which designs and manufactures machines for military and civil applications.
• Dolgoprudny Research Production Enterprise, which develops and manufactures high-technology defense products.

   In addition, BIS also added five Russian energy companies to the Entity List to impose a license requirement for the export, re-export or foreign transfer of items subject to the EAR to those companies when the exporter, re-exporter or transferer knows those items will be used directly or indirectly in exploration for, or production from, deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects in Russia. “License applications for such transactions will be reviewed with a presumption of denial when for use directly or indirectly for exploration or production from deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects in Russia that have the potential to produce oil,” BIS said.
The Russian energy entities added to the Entity List include:

• Gazprom, which has large business lines in exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel, as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power.
• Gazpromneft, an oil company engaged primarily in oil and gas exploration and production, the sale and distribution of crude oil, and the production and sale of petroleum products.
• Lukoil, a leader of Russia’s petroleum industry.
• Rosneft, another large player in Russia’s petroleum industry.
• Surgutneftegas, a Russian oil and gas company that owns large oil and gas reserves in Western Siberia.