OFAC Extends General Licenses Involving Sanctioned GAZ Group

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the expiration date of two general licenses related to GAZ Group, allowing certain transactions involving the sanctioned company until July 6, 2019, OFAC said in March 6 notice. The previous expiration date, issued in a Jan. 16 notice, was March 7. The sanctions against GAZ Group are Ukraine-related, and the company was designated as an “oligarch-owned” entity after OFAC said in a April 2018 notice that the company was owned or controlled by “Russian Machines” and oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who also is identified as having a large stake in Russian aluminum producer Rusal. The notice said GAZ Group is Russia’s “leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles.”

Among other conditions, the first general license allows the divestment or transfer of “debt, equity, or other holdings” in GAZ Group to a non-U.S. person until midnight on July 6. The second general license includes a provision allowing the “wind down of operations, contacts, or other agreements” involving goods from GAZ Group entering the U.S. until July 6, as long as those transactions began before April 6, 2018. U.S. people involved in transactions authorized by either general license are required to file a “comprehensive, detailed report of each transaction” with OFAC within 10 business days after the license’s expiration date. Reports must include names and addresses of parties involved, the dates the transactions occurred, and the “type and scope of activities conducted,” OFAC said.