US issues additional restrictions on Russia

The corresponding announcement was released on website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"These changes relate to the amended Ukraine-/Russia-related Directives 1 [covering financial sector] and 2 [energy sector] that were issued on September 29, 2017 in accordance with Title II of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA)," the statement reads.

As noted, certain CAATSA-related prohibitions in amended Directives 1 and 2 had a delayed effective date of November 28, 2017.  In order to account for the fact that the CAATSA-related prohibitions in amended Directives 1 and 2 have now come into effect, OFAC is issuing General License 1B.

In particular, the amendments to the Directive 1 prohibit transacting in, providing financing for, or otherwise dealing in debt of specified tenors or equity if that debt or equity was or is issued on or after the relevant sanctions effective date by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the persons operating in Russia’s financial sector named under Directive 1, their property, or their interests in property.

Amended Directive 2 prohibits transacting in, providing financing for, or otherwise dealing in new debt of specified tenors by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the persons operating in Russia’s energy sector named under Directive 2, their property, or their interests in property. 

The new restrictions have been introduced in accordance with Section II of the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017.

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