Nynas Says 'Corporate Restructuring,' Reporting Requirements Led to Lifting of OFAC Sanctions

Nynas AB, a joint venture between biofuel producer Neste and Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., is no longer designated by the Treasury Department after a “corporate restructuring” by the company, Nynas said May 12. The company’s restructuring “severs control by blocked persons and reduces the interest of blocked persons below 50 percent,” the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a May 12 notice in which it announced it was revoking a general license for Nynas (see 2005120028). OFAC clarified that U.S. companies and people no longer need an authorization to deal with Nynas “provided such activities do not involve blocked persons.”

Nynas said OFAC sanctions “led to an increasingly deteriorating financial situation” which forced them to restructure. Specifically, Nynas reduced the ownership share of PdVSA, the Venezuelan state-run oil company subject to U.S. sanctions, to 15%. “Our focus now is to successfully end the ongoing reorganisation process and having exited sanctions Nynas will be able to return to normal trading conditions and secure long-term financing,” the company said. The company added that it agreed to an “ongoing reporting requirement” with OFAC about any changes to its shareholders and board of directors.