Nnedi Ifudu Nweke Quoted by American Shipper on New Round of Russian Sanctions

American Shipper has quoted Akin Gump international trade partner Nnedi Ifudu Nweke in the article “Grappling with latest round of US Russian sanctions,” which reports on a move by the U.S. State Department to restrict chemical and biological commodities to Russia.

According to the article, the State Department has said that, once the sanctions are in place, licenses for those exports and reexports of goods and technology controlled for chemical and biological weapons purposes that are destined for Russian state-owned and state-funded enterprises will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with a presumption of denial. The sanctions also will prohibit U.S. banks from handling non-ruble-denominated bonds issued by the Russian government or providing non-ruble-denominated loans to Russian state enterprises.

A potential challenge for some U.S. companies working in this area is determining with certainty whether they are dealing with an entity that is Russian state-owned or -funded, said Ifudu Nweke. The sanctions should not stop U.S. companies, she said, from applying for export licenses if they can provide details that demonstrate—to the best of their knowledge—that a Russian enterprise is not state-owned or -funded or works on behalf of the Russian military.

Ifudu Nweke added that it will also be important for these U.S. companies to explain in their license applications that their exports pose no harm to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests, noting, “You also have to think about how this change will affect your license application process and communicate those changes to anyone involved in the transactions.” Still, the government, she added, will continue to scrutinize closely all licensable exports to Russia.