The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)'s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added 120 Russian and Belarusian entities to its Entity List for attempting to obtain items under export bans or restrictions as a result of Russia's war on Ukraine.
BIL describes the persons or organizations added to the Entity List as "military end users" that either procured or attempted to procure items for Russia's and Belarus's military use, according to the DOC's April 1 announcement. DOC Secretary Gina M. Raimondo said the measures would further isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters in Russia and Belarus from global commerce, the DOC reports.
“These parties are being effectively cut off from the inputs necessary to sustain Putin’s war," Sec. Raimondo said in the announcement, "and shows that the United States has the capabilities to detect, identify, and restrict parties in Russia, Belarus, or elsewhere that seek to support that effort.”
The 95 entities added April 1 bring to 260 the total number added to BIS's Entity List of persons or groups who support Russian military and security services, according to the announcement, including 91 entities in 10 countries added on March 4. The actions continue the agency's efforts to impair Russia's capacity to get supplies and technology necessary to continue its military onslaught.
Thea D. Rozman Kendler., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, said the BIS will continue to monitor aerospace, defense, maritime and other sectors in Russia and Belarus. The BIL will immediately block access to U.S. goods and technologies by any entity that supports Russia's invasion, the report states.
“Parties that have thrown in their lot with Vladimir Putin’s horrific assault on Ukraine should not benefit from access to U.S. items,” Rozman Kendler said in the statement.
DOC reports that representatives from the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, State and Energy apply accepted legal standards to evaluate persons or groups recommended for the Entity List. BIS actions are authorized by the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), according to the statement.
“Today’s action demonstrates America’s resolve in support of Ukraine. We will work to detect, identify, and cut off parties that support Putin’s war effort company by company or person by person if we have to,” Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in the announcement.
“The Department of Commerce will leave no stone unturned when it comes to restricting access to U.S. commodities, software, and technologies to the Russian war machine and its enablers,” Graves said.
