Commerce Department Announces Move Against Russian Expropriation of Ukrainian Company

WASHINGTON – The U. S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced today that it has added a company located in the occupied Crimea region of Ukraine to the Entity List in response to Russian expropriation of the company. The Entity List designation imposes a license requirement for the export, reexport or in-country transfer of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to the company, with the presumption of denial. The company, Chernomorneftegaz, a.k.a. Chornomornaftogaz and NJSC Chornomornaftogaz, is a regional oil and gas company in Crimea and a subsidiary of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, but its assets are now being overseen by Russian government interests following their seizure by the Crimean parliament.

"The addition of Chernomorneftegaz to the Entity List sends a strong message of the United States government's condemnation of Russia's incursion into Ukraine and expropriation of Ukrainian assets," said Under Secretary of Commerce Eric L. Hirschhorn in announcing the move.

The Department of Commerce's addition of Chernomorneftegaz to the Entity List is being done in conjunction with a parallel action by the Department of the Treasury. Today's move is consistent with the President's finding in Executive Order 13660 that the actions and policies of persons who have asserted governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States. In Executive Order 13661 and Executive Order 13662, the President further found that the actions and policies of the Russian government with respect to Ukraine – including the deployment of its military forces to, and purported annexation of, Crimea – undermine Ukraine's democratic processes and institutions, threaten Ukraine's peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets. In a related action today by the Department of the Treasury, Chernomorneftegaz is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13660 because it is complicit in the misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine or of an economically significant entity in Ukraine.

Chernomorneftegaz is being added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List under two entries, consisting of one entry in Crimea (Occupied) with an additional entry added to provide a cross reference from Ukraine. The United States continues to condemn in the strongest terms Russia's occupation of Crimea and will not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.