Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 of 27 May 2024 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia

Article 1

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(a) ‘brokering services’ means: (i) the negotiation or arrangement of transactions for the purchase, sale or supply of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including from a third country to any other third country; or (ii) the selling or buying of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including where they are located in third countries for their transfer to another third country;

(b) ‘claim’ means any claim, whether asserted by legal proceedings or not, made before or after the date of entry into force of this Regulation, under or in connection with a contract or transaction, and in particular: (i) a claim for performance of any obligation arising under or in connection with a contract or transaction; (ii) a claim for extension or payment of a bond, financial guarantee or indemnity of whatever form; (iii) a claim for compensation in respect of a contract or transaction; (iv) a counterclaim; (v) a claim for the recognition or enforcement, including by the procedure of exequatur, of a judgment, an arbitration award or an equivalent decision, wherever made or given;

(c) ‘contract or transaction’ means any transaction of whatever form and whatever the applicable law, whether comprising one or more contracts or similar obligations made between the same or different parties; for that purpose ‘contract’ includes a bond, guarantee or indemnity, particularly a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, and credit, whether legally independent or not, as well as any related provision arising under, or in connection with, the transaction;

(d) ‘competent authorities’ means the competent authorities of the Member States as identified on the websites listed in Annex III;

(e) ‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds, but may be used to obtain funds, goods or services;

(f) ‘financing or financial assistance’ means any action, irrespective of the particular means chosen, whereby the natural or legal person, entity or body concerned, conditionally or unconditionally, disburses or commits to disburse its own funds or economic resources, including but not limited to grants, loans, guarantees, suretyships, bonds, letters of credit, supplier credits, buyer credits, import or export advances and all types of insurance and reinsurance, including export credit insurance; payment as well as terms and conditions of payment of the agreed price for a good or a service, made in line with normal business practice, do not constitute financing or financial assistance;

(g) ‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them;

(h) ‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any move, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or other change that would enable the funds to be used, including portfolio management;

(i) ‘funds’ means financial assets and benefit of every kind, including, but not limited to: (i) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (ii) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (iii) publicly and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts; (iv) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets; (v) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (vi) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; (vii) documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

(j) ‘technical assistance’ means any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service, and may take forms such as instruction, advice, training, transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services, including verbal forms of assistance;

(k) ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty on European Union applies, under the conditions laid down therein, including their airspace.

Article 2

It shall be prohibited:

(a) to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, equipment which might be used for internal repression as listed in Annex I, whether or not originating in the Union, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

(b) to provide technical assistance or brokering services related to the equipment referred to in point (a), directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

(c) to provide financing or financial assistance, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance, related to the equipment referred to in point (a), directly or indirectly to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, export or provision of the assistance or services referred to therein after having determined that this is necessary for:

(a) the functioning of diplomatic and consular representations of the Union and of the Member States or partner countries in Russia, including delegations, embassies and missions, or international organisations in Russia enjoying immunities in accordance with international law;

(b) the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators, for the provision of associated facilities and services necessary for the operation, maintenance and security of such electronic communication services, in Russia, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Russia and the Union, and between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union.

Article 3

By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authorities may authorise the sale, supply, transfer, export, or provision of the services referred to therein, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that this is necessary for:

(a) the functioning of diplomatic and consular representations of the Union and of the Member States or partner countries in Russia, including delegations, embassies and missions, or international organisations in Russia enjoying immunities in accordance with international law;

(b) the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators necessary for the operation, maintenance and security, including cybersecurity, of electronic communication services, in Russia, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Russia and the Union, and between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union.

Article 4

Unless the competent authority of the relevant Member State has given prior authorisation in accordance with Article 3(1), it shall be prohibited to:

(a) provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance or brokering services related to the equipment, technology and software listed in Annex II, related to the installation, provision, manufacture, maintenance, repair and use of the equipment and technology listed in Annex II, or related to the provision, installation, operation or updating of any software listed in Annex II to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

(b) provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the equipment, technology and software listed in Annex II to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia;

(c) provide any telecommunication or internet monitoring or interception services to, or for the direct or indirect benefit of, Russia’s government, public bodies, corporations and agencies or any person or entity acting on their behalf or at their direction.

Article 5

Article 6

Annex IV shall include natural or legal persons, entities or bodies that:

(a) are responsible for serious violations or abuses of human rights or the repression of civil society and democratic opposition, or whose activities otherwise seriously undermine democracy or the rule of law in Russia;

(b) provide financial, technical, or material support for, or are otherwise involved in, acts set out in point (a), including by planning, directing, ordering, assisting, preparing, facilitating, or encouraging such acts;

(c) are associated with the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies referred to in point (a) or (b).

Article 7

By way of derogation from Article 6(1) and (2), the competent authorities may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources concerned are:

(a) necessary to satisfy the basic needs of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex IV, and dependent family members of such natural persons, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;

(b) intended exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees or the reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;

(c) intended exclusively for the payment of fees or service charges for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources;

(d) necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the relevant competent authority has notified the competent authorities of the other Member States and the Commission of the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at least 2 weeks prior to the authorisation;

(e) to be paid into or from an account of a diplomatic mission or consular post or an international organisation enjoying immunities in accordance with international law, insofar as such payments are intended to be used for official purposes of the diplomatic or consular mission or international organisation;

(f) necessary for the functioning of diplomatic and consular representations of the Union and of the Member States or partner countries in Russia, including delegations, embassies and missions, or international organisations in Russia enjoying immunities in accordance with international law;

(g) necessary for the provision of electronic communication services by Union telecommunication operators, for the provision of associated facilities and services necessary for the operation, maintenance and security of such electronic communication services, in Russia, in Ukraine, in the Union, between Russia and the Union, and between Ukraine and the Union, and for data centre services in the Union; or

(h) necessary for the sale and transfer by 28 August 2024, or within 6 months from the date of listing in Annex IV, whichever is latest, of proprietary rights in a legal person, entity or body established in the Union where those proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned by a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex IV, and after having determined that the proceeds of such sale and transfer remain frozen.

Article 8

Article 9

By way of derogation from Article 6(1), the competent authorities may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the following conditions are met:

(a) the funds or economic resources are the subject of an arbitral decision rendered prior to the date on which the natural or legal person, entity or body referred to in Article 6 was listed in Annex IV, or of a judicial or administrative decision rendered in the Union, or a judicial decision enforceable in the Member State concerned, prior to or after that date;

(b) the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a decision or recognised as valid in such a decision, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;

(c) the decision is not for the benefit of a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex IV; and

(d) recognising the decision is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.

Article 10

By way of derogation from Article 6(1) and provided that a payment by a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex IV is due under a contract or agreement that was concluded by, or an obligation that arose for, the natural or legal person, entity or body concerned, before the date on which that natural or legal person, entity or body was included in Annex IV, the competent authorities may authorise, under such conditions as they deem appropriate, the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the competent authority concerned has determined that:

(a) the funds or economic resources will be used for a payment by a natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex IV; and

(b) the payment is not in breach of Article 6(2).

Article 11

Article 6 (2) shall not apply to the addition to frozen accounts of:

(a) interest or other earnings on those accounts;

(b) payments due under contracts, agreements or obligations that were concluded or arose before the date on which the natural or legal person, entity or body referred to in Article 6 was included in Annex IV; or

(c) payments due under judicial, administrative or arbitral decisions rendered in a Member State or enforceable in the Member State concerned,

provided that any such interest, other earnings and payments are frozen in accordance with Article 6(1).

Article 12

Natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall:

(a) supply immediately any information which would facilitate compliance with this Regulation, such as information on accounts and amounts frozen in accordance with Article 6(1) or information held about funds and economic resources within Union territory belonging to, owned, held or controlled by natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex IV and which have not been treated as frozen by the natural and legal persons, entities and bodies obliged to do so, to the competent authority of the Member State where they are resident or located, and transmit such information, directly or through the Member State, to the Commission; and

(b) cooperate with the competent authority in any verification of the information referred to in point (a).

Article 13

Natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex IV, shall:

(a) report within 6 weeks from the date of listing in Annex IV funds or economic resources within the jurisdiction of a Member State belonging to, owned, held or controlled by them, to the competent authority of the Member State where those funds or economic resources are located; and

(b) cooperate with the competent authority in any verification of such information.

Article 14

Article 15

No claims in connection with any contract or transaction the performance of which has been affected, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by the measures imposed under this Regulation, including claims for indemnity or any other claim of this type, such as a claim for compensation or a claim under a guarantee, in particular a claim for extension or payment of a bond, guarantee or indemnity, in particular a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, of whatever form, shall be satisfied, if they are made by:

(a) natural or legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex IV;

(b) any natural or legal person, entity or body acting through or on behalf of one of the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies referred to in point (a).

Article 16

The Commission and Member States shall inform each other of the measures taken under this Regulation and share any other relevant information at their disposal in connection with this Regulation, in particular information in respect of:

(a) funds frozen under Article 6 and authorisations granted under the derogations set out in this Regulation;

(b) violation and enforcement problems and judgments handed down by national courts.

Article 17

Article 18

Article 19

Article 20

The Council, the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) may process personal data in order to carry out their tasks under this Regulation. Those tasks include:

(a) as regards the Council, preparing and making amendments to Annex IV;

(b) as regards the High Representative, preparing amendments to Annex IV;

(c) as regards the Commission: (i) adding the contents of Annex IV to the electronic, consolidated list of natural and legal persons, groups and entities subject to Union financial sanctions and to the interactive sanctions map, both of which are publicly available; (ii) processing information on the impact of the measures of this Regulation, such as the value of frozen funds and information on authorisations granted by the competent authorities.

Article 21

Article 22

Any information provided to or received in accordance with this Regulation shall be used only for the purposes for which it was provided or received.

Article 23

This Regulation shall apply:

(a) within the territory of the Union, including its airspace;

(b) on board any aircraft or vessel under the jurisdiction of a Member State;

(c) to any natural person inside or outside the territory of the Union who is a national of a Member State;

(d) to any legal person, entity or body, inside or outside the territory of the Union, which is incorporated or constituted under the law of a Member State;

(e) to any legal person, entity or body in respect of any business done in whole or in part within the Union.

Article 24

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I