Key developments on April 25: * Denmark announces additional $633 million in military support to Ukraine * NYT: US secretly sent Ukraine over 100 ATACMS last week * Reuters: Satellite imagery shows ship likely used to transfer North Korean arms to Russia docked in Chinese port * Reuters: Next round of EU sanctions on
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said earlier in April that the bloc is preparing its 14th round of sanctions against Russia, which should be adopted in spring.
The figures demonstrate that western sanctions targeting Moscow's oil and gas industries have not been as effective as hoped.
Along with many other Western companies, Hugo Boss suspended its retail operations in Russia after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Airbus has been granted a waiver by the Canadian government, allowing it to continue using Russian titanium after Ottawa became the first Western nation to ban the metal in its latest package of sanctions targeting the Kremlin, Reuters reported on April 23.
Swedish Navy chief Ewa Skoog Haslum said some of the ships from the shadow fleet have been found to possess communications and signals equipment not usually associated with cargo vessels, leading to concerns they could be used in "hybrid operations."
The Wurzburg Prosecutor's Office has opened a preliminary investigation into the German building materials manufacturer Knauf, allegedly involved in the reconstruction of Russian-occupied Mariupol, Russian state-controlled news outlet RIA Novosti reported on April 22.
"Adopting the 14th sanctions package is one of the most important things," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said when he arrived in Luxembourg for a ministerial EU meeting.
The European Council in a statement released after the first day of a summit in Brussels condemned Iran's attack and expressed full solidarity with the people of Israel, reiterating its commitment to "Israel's security and regional stability."
A Kyiv Court ruled on April 16 to cancel the seizure of Lifecell shares owned by sanctioned oligarch Mikhail Fridman, paving the way for French billionaire Xavier Niel to acquire the mobile operator as part of a merger with telecoms company Datagroup-Volia.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted unanimously on April 16 in support of a resolution calling for frozen Russian assets to be transferred to a new fund for Ukraine's reconstruction.
The contract on the sale and merger of the telecom businesses Lifecell and Datagroup-Volia prohibits any payment to sanctioned oligarch Mikhail Fridman, Datagroup-Volia CEO Mykhailo Shelemba told Interfax Ukraine on April 16.
The latest sanctions package targets entities that profit from Russia's war in Ukraine, including a state-owned machine tool building company, a radio communications firm, and a software development company.
The new action will block Russian metal producers from profits from the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
The European Council approved the law on the prosecution of violation or circumvention of EU sanctions, mainly concerning the sanctions against Russia, the parliament's press service reported on April 12.
The first issues with purchases for electronics started back in December 2023, mainly related to finished products, Kommersant said, citing representatives of the Russian business.
The EU Court of Justice ruled on April 10 to lift sanctions against Russian business tycoons Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, imposed in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
There’s so much news and noise on the issue of using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, so I thought it useful to put out a quick Q&A on the issue. How much money are we talking about? There are around $320 billion in Russian central bank assets currently
Turkish machinery exporters, who benefited from the surge in sales to Russia last year, may see their revenues drop by $1 billion in 2024 due to "ambiguous" sanctions, Bloomberg said, citing Kutlu Karavelioglu, the chairperson of the Machinery Exporters' Association.
A total of 86 companies were on the sanctions list, most of which were Ukrainian. Some Russian and Chinese companies were listed as well.
The Japanese government announced on April 5 its decision to ban exports of 164 goods to Russia, namely automobile engine oil and optical equipment, the Jiji Press news agency reported.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that the move was in part guided by the goal of "disrupting Iran's ability to...support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
Russian gas producer Novatek is considering scaling back a major liquefied natural gas project due to the impact of Western sanctions, Reuters reported on April 4, citing sources in the industry.
The cargo ship, named Atlantic Navigator II, is registered in the Marshall Islands, but has a largely Russian crew. It was forced to stop in Rostock due to propeller damage, where it encountered trouble with German customs agents due to its cargo of sanctioned goods.
South Korea has imposed new sanctions against two Russian organizations, two individuals, and two ships over cooperation with North Korea, the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported on April 2.
Russian smugglers are using the cryptocurrency tether to circumvent Western sanctions and purchase weapons and drone parts, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on April 1.
Despite wide-reaching import bans and sanctions, the U.S. and its allies have struggled to prevent Western components from ending up in Russian weapons used to attack Ukraine.
The U.S. and U.K. are investigating several cryptocurrency transactions valued at more than $20 billion that passed through a Russian-based virtual exchange, Bloomberg reported on March 28.
Russia on March 28 vetoed the annual renewal of the panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The individuals involved reportedly knew that the turbines would ultimately end up in occupied Crimea, despite the original sales documents saying they would be installed in Russia proper.
North Korea has been shaping up to be Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.
Fiala said that Viktor Medvedchuk and another sanction individual, Ukrainian-Israeli pro-Kremlin propagandist Artem Marchevskyi, "oversaw several influence operations and networks from the Russian Federation" and sought to influence social discourse in Czechia through the Voice of Europe organization, which was also placed on the sanctions list.
