On 18 December 2014, the European Union significantly extended its trade sanctions in relation to Crimea and Sevastopol. Regulation 1351/2014 (“the Regulation”) amends Regulation 692/2014 as amended by Regulation 825/2014. The main elements of the new regulation are as follows: · a very significant extension of restrictions on the areas already covered in the earlier Regulations; and an extension to new areas (e.g. real estate and tourism services); · broadening of the restrictions already in…
Council Regulation (EU) No 1351/2014 (the “New Regulation”) enters into force today, 20 December 2014, and introduces substantial sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol as the EU looks to reinforce that it does not recognise their annexation to Russia and to strengthen existing measures against them targeting trade and investment in Crimea and Sevastopol. The EU’s existing sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol are set out in Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 (as amended). Previously, the EU’s…
Effective at 3:30 pm ET today, President Obama issued an Executive Order that (i) imposes comprehensive sanctions on the Crimea region of Ukraine (“Crimea”), which has been occupied by Russia since March 2014, and (ii) provides the authority for blocking certain persons in connection with the situation in Crimea . OFAC’s announcement is available here. The Executive Order prohibits the following activities: New investment in Crimea by U.S. Persons (i.e., (i) entities organized under US…
The EU has just announced that additional sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol have been approved to “reinforce the EU’s policy of not recognising their illegal annexation by Russia”. They will be published in the Official Journal tomorrow and take effect from 20 December. The press release states that from 20 December: 1. Investment in Crimea and Sevastopol will be prohibited. Europeans and EU-based companies will be prevented from buying real estate or entities in Crimea,…