Increasingly cut off from western banking and financial services, Russia's wealthiest individuals are facing a dilemma when it comes to handing their fortunes to the next generation, according to Bloomberg. Most of the billionaires who were sanctioned have opted to move assets home, the news agency reported.
The U.K., U.S., and Australia announced sanctions on the Russian leader of the cyber-crime gang, LockBit, the U.K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on May 7.
The shadow fleet refers to aging and largely uninsured oil tankers that Russia uses to transport oil above the $60 per barrel price cap that the EU, the U.S., and the Group of Seven (G7) countries imposed in December 2022 as part of the effort to cut Moscow's fossil fuels revenue.
According to Bloomberg, the ban on Russian funding could impact far-right parties in Europe such as Germany's AfD and France's National Rally, both of which have previously been accused of links to Russia.
The EU executive body is proposing that the Voice of Europe media outlet be added to the upcoming 14th round of EU sanctions against Russia, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, said on May 5, as reported by European Pravda.
Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to North Korea in volumes that may violate the U.N. Security Council's restrictions, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on May 2, according to Reuters.
Nikolay Grigorev, a 36-year-old Brooklyn resident, pleaded guilty to shipping components to companies affiliated with the Russian military. Co-defendants Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Oloviannikov remain at large, the statement read.
Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency, said that the import of Russian urea, a typical fertilizer, had doubled from the previous year up to June 2023.
Even as the 38th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster has come and gone, the nuclear threat posed by Moscow continues to grow. Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy company, has a hand in this – namely, by financing Russia’s war against Ukraine, fostering global energy dependencies that threaten to
"Instead of repeated statements about intentions to reduce and sell their activities in Russia, the Raiffeisen Bank International is the Western lender with the largest operations in Russia."
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."
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