It has been reported that the Italian parliamentary intelligence committee, known as Copasair, is investigating a number of Italian companies suspected of breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
No information has been published on the companies being investigated or the nature of the alleged offending.
It has been reported today that the Greek coastguard has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in Greek waters, as part of the enforcement of the EU’s Russian sanctions.
The tanker is named as the Pegas, although it recently changed its named to the Lana.
The Police of Finland have today announced an investigation in alleged breaches of the EU sanctions ban on Russian flights in EU airspace.
The investigation relates to four passenger aircraft which entered Finnish airspace.
The investigation is being jointly conducted with the Finnish Defence Forces and the Border Guard.
The German Ministry of Economy has launched an investigation into whether engineering company Bosch has made unlawful exports to Russian in breach of EU sanctions.
Further to our earlier post, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has issued a press release confirming the indictment of Alexander S. on further charges relating to the export of dual-use goods to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.
The value of the exports is estimated at over €1 million.
The press release documents warning issued to Alexander S by the German authorities and his efforts to circumvent the prohibitions through falsifying documents and arranging for export from an Asian country.
It is being reported today that the Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating five individuals in relation to the export from Germany to Crimea of gas turbines manufactured by Siemens.
The broader investigation into the export of these turbines has been ongoing since 2018. See our earlier post.
Four of the individuals being investigated are German nationals, three of whom worked for Siemens in Russia, and the fifth is a Swiss national.
Two Danish companies have been convicted of exporting 177,000 tonnes of jet fuel to Syria in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
In total some 33 transactions took place between 2015 and 2017, with the exports routed through Russian companies bound for Syria.
The company Dan-Bunkering was fined DKK 30 million ($4.6m), with a further DKK 15 million of unlawful profits confiscated.
The parent company Bunker Holding was fined DKK 4 million.
The Dan Bunkering CEO was also convicted and given a four-month custodial sentence , suspended pending a one year probation period.
The Rotterdam District Court has convicted a manager of a wholesale business of exports to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.
The export was of 128,000 litres of acetone, which is a product listed in Annex IX of the EU regulation.
The sentence was for a three month sentence suspended for 2 years and 180 hours of community service. This was lower than sought by the prosecution.
The company responsible for the exports was acquitted on the basis that the prosecution only commenced after it had already been wound up.
It has been reported today that the Norwegian authorities have charged a German-Iranian national on suspicion of breaching UN sanctions (as implemented in Norway) against Iran.
The person is a professor at a technical university and is alleged to have invited four Iranian scientists to visit a laboratory in breach of Norway’s, and then permitted them access to technical data in breach of sanctions, export control laws, and data breach legislation.
It has been reported today that the German authorities have conducted raids on 11 premises across Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, and that one individual (named only as Alexander J) has been arrested on suspicion of the unlawful export of machinery and equipment to Iran in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The products were alleged to have been destined for Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and to have been valued at over €1.1 million.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office press release is here.
