Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1215 of 23 June 2023 amending Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine

New Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1215 as regards sanction measures with respect to persons and entities that threaten or undermine the safety, independence, and sovereignty of Ukraine was published in the Official Journal (OJ) of the EU. The regulation modifies Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014, which sets out an entire sanctions framework in that matter, by
(1) extending the grounds for sanctioning individuals and entities and having their assets frozen stipulated in Article 3 of the 2014 regulation to include „legal persons, entities, or bodies operating in the Russian IT sector that hold a license administered by the FSB Center for Licensing, Certification, and Protection of State Secrets or a ‘weapons and military equipment’ license administered by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade“.
(2) permitting certain derogations from asset freezing measures stipulated in the 2014 regulation to enable the release frozen funds of or make available funds to entity #82 and entity #101 which refer to the VTB Bank and the National Settlement Depository (NSD), respectively, so long as such measure is for
– the winding down (disposal or transfer) of securities transactions of EU entities currently or previously controlled by VTB Bank (entity #82) and so long as the winding down takes place before December 31, 2023 for contracts or operations concluded before June 3, 2022 and
– the conversion of depositary receipts and / or the sale of underlying securities held by EU entities and residents at the NSD, provided that a request for authorization for such conversion and sale is submitted before September 25, 2023.
(3) permitting derogations from asset freezing measures with respect to person #695, Alexey Alexandrovits MORDASHOV, on the sanctions list set out in Annex I for purposes of winding down a joint venture with the man or any other legal form of business by August 31, 2023
(4) permitting the release of frozen funds of or make available funds to the following entities used for purposes of purchasing, importing, or transporting“ agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers“. Entries #214 and #215 were thereby added:
– Entry # 53 – Bank Rossiya, Saint Petersburg
– Entry # 54 – PROMSVYAZBANK, Moscow
– Entry # 55 – VEB.RF, Moscow
– Entry # 79 – Otkritie FC Bank, Moscow
– Entry # 80 – Novikombank, Moscow
– Entry # 81 – Sovcombank, Moscow
– Entry # 82 – VTB Bank, Moscow
– Entry # 108 – Sberbank, Moscow
– Entry # 126 – Credit Bank of Moscow
– Entry # 127 – JSC ‘DALNEVOSTOCHNIY BANK
– Entry # 198 – Alfa-Bank JSC
– Entry # 199 – Public joint-stock company Rosbank
– Entry # 200 – Tinkoff Bank JSC
– Entry # 214 – MRB Bank
– Entry # 215 – CMRBank
(5) permitting the release of frozen funds for purposes of „setting-up, certification or evaluation of a firewall“ which may be necessary for removing control of a sanctioned person or entity over an EU entity or legal person.