On May 19, 2023, the Department of State designated Russia-based Polimetall AO pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024.  These blocking sanctions apply only to this entity and any entities in which it owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest.  

Neither the Department of State nor OFAC have designated this entity’s ultimate parent company, Jersey-based Polymetal International PLC, and based on information available to OFAC, Polymetal International PLC is not owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons or otherwise considered the blocked property of any blocked persons.  U.S. persons, therefore, are not prohibited from dealing with Polymetal International PLC, its non-blocked subsidiaries, or non-blocked affiliates to the extent the proposed dealings do not involve any blocked person, any interest in property of a blocked person, or any other activities prohibited pursuant to any OFAC sanctions authorities.
 

Section 1(a)(ii) of E.O. 14071 prohibits the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any category of services as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to any person located in the Russian Federation. As of April 12, 2024, categories of services identified pursuant to E.O. 14071 include:

OFAC expects to promulgate regulations that define the terms architecture services, engineering services, and covered metals acquisition services consistent with the following:

Architecture services include advisory services; pre-design services; design services, including schematic design, design development, and final design; contract administration services; combined architectural design and contract administration services; including post construction services; and all other services requiring the expertise of architects.  The prohibition applies to such services as they relate to residential, institutional, leisure, commercial, and industrial buildings and structures; recreational areas; transportation infrastructure; land subdivisions; and not necessarily related to a new construction project.  The term also includes urban planning services (i.e., land use, site selection, and servicing of land for systemic, coordinated urban development) and landscape architectural services.  OFAC intends to interpret this term consistent with UN Central Product Classification (CPC) Codes 86711-86704, 86719, and 86741-86742.

Engineering services include assistance, advisory, consultative, design, and recommendation services concerning engineering matters or during any phase of an engineering project.  Engineering design services may be for:  the construction of foundations and building structures (i.e., structural engineering); mechanical and electrical installations for buildings; the construction of civil engineering works; industrial processes and production; or other engineering designs, such as those for acoustics, vibration, traffic control systems, or prototype development for new products.  The term additionally includes geotechnical, groundwater, and corrosion engineering services; integrated engineering services, such as those for transportation infrastructure or other projects; engineering-related scientific and technical consulting services, including geological, geophysical, geochemical, surface or subsurface surveying, and map making services; testing and analysis services of chemical, biological, and physical properties of materials or of integrated mechanical and electrical systems; and technical inspection services.  OFAC intends to interpret this term consistent with UN CPC Codes 86721-86727, 86729, 86731-86733, 86739, 86751-86754, 86761-86764, and 86769. Additionally, OFAC does not consider maritime classification services to be subject to the prohibition, as is consistent with the OFAC Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy for Crude Oil and Petroleum Products of Russian Federation Origin.

Covered metals acquisition services means warranting services for aluminum, copper, or nickel of Russian Federation origin on a global metal exchange and services to acquire aluminum, copper, or nickel of Russian Federation origin as part of the physical settlement of a derivative contract.  “Warranting services” refers to issuing, registering, accepting, or acquiring a warrant or the underlying metal on a global metal exchange (i.e., a commodities exchange that provides infrastructure and services for the international trading of base metal derivatives contracts).  Examples of such global metal exchanges include, but are not limited to, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the London Metal Exchange, and the Shanghai Futures Exchange.  “Warrant” means an electronic record or physical document of title to, possession of, or rights in respect of a specified lot of metal (including where such metal is held in a third country within a global metal exchange-approved warehouse). A warrant is created or issued in accordance with the rules of a global metal exchange. 

Updated: June 12, 2024

A sector determination pursuant to E.O. 14024 exposes persons that operate or have operated in an identified sector to sanctions risk; however, a sector determination does not automatically impose sanctions on all persons who operate or have operated in the sector.  Only persons determined, pursuant to E.O. 14024, by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State, or by the Secretary of State in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, or their delegates, to operate or have operated in the above-identified sectors are subject to sanctions.  See FAQ 1126 for the sectors identified pursuant to E.O. 14024 as of May 19, 2023. 

Persons sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in an identified sector are added to one or more OFAC sanctions lists based on the type of sanction, including the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List), the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA List), and the Non-SDN Menu-Based Sanctions List (NS-MBS List).
 

Section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 imposes sanctions with respect to any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to operate or have operated in the technology sector or the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy, or any other sector of the Russian Federation economy as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State.  As of May 19, 2023, persons may be sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the following sectors of the Russian Federation economy:

OFAC expects to promulgate regulations that define the terms (i) architecture sector of the Russian Federation economy, (ii) engineering sector of the Russian Federation economy, (iii) construction sector of the Russian Federation economy, (iv) manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy, and (v) transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy consistent with the following:

Architecture sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term architecture sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as advising; pre-designing; designing; preparing sketches, reports, studies, assessments, site plans, working drawings, specifications, cost estimates, as-built drawings, or other materials; contract administration; site selection; and inspections concerning architectural and related matters involving the Russian Federation.  Such activities may be related to the following types of projects, e.g.: residential, institutional, leisure, commercial, and industrial buildings and structures; recreational areas; transportation infrastructure; land subdivisions; urban planning; landscape architecture; and not necessarily relate to a new construction project.  The term additionally includes any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving the architecture sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Engineering sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term engineering sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as advising; designing; recommending; consulting; constructing; installing, surveying; preparing studies, specifications, cost estimates, working drawings, process flow diagrams, arrangement drawings, or other materials; map making; planning; testing; analysis; and inspecting for engineering and related matters involving the Russian Federation.  Such activities may be undertaken during any phase of an engineering project of any type and may not necessarily relate to a new construction or development project.  The term additionally includes any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving the engineering sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Construction sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term construction sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as the production, procurement, devising, framing, design, testing, financing, distribution, or transport involving the Russian Federation, of goods, services, or technology to fabricate, shape, alter, maintain, or form any buildings or structures, including the on-site development, assembly, or construction of residential, commercial, or institutional buildings, or of transportation infrastructure, in the Russian Federation; and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving the construction sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as the creation, modification, repair, testing, or financing, of goods by manual labor or machinery involving the Russian Federation and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.  Note that persons conducting or facilitating transactions that are exempt or authorized by OFAC—such as those related to the provision of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices, or related to energy—will not be subject to sanctions under E.O. 14024.

Transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as the production, manufacturing, testing, financing, distribution or transport to, from, or involving the Russian Federation of any mode of transport or any goods, services, or technology for the movement or conveyance of persons or property and the loading, unloading, or storage incidental to the movement of such persons or property; and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term technology sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as the production, procurement, research, development, design, engineering, testing, servicing, financing, distribution, use, or transport involving the Russian Federation, of software, equipment, electronics, items, tools, materials, or devices, and any components, parts, or accessories of the foregoing, related to the fields of computing, engineering, applied mathematics, or applied sciences involving the Russian Federation and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods or services involving the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy includes military, armed forces, or security forces  of or within the Russian Federation; the use of arms or related materiel by military, armed forces, or security forces of or within the Russian Federation; any person designing, developing, manufacturing, supplying, financing, procuring, or distributing goods, services, or technology to, from, or involving military, armed forces, or security forces of or within the Russian Federation; and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology involving the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.  The term defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy also includes acquisition, possession, procurement, research, design, development, testing, evaluation, manufacture, maintenance, upgrade or refurbishment, shipping, supply, sale, transfer, or storage to, from, within, for, transiting, or on behalf of the Russian Federation of arms or related materiel of all types; enablers, aggregates, components, parts, as well as related documentation and instructions for any such arms or related materiel; or training for the use of included systems, provision of simulation equipment, documentation (including training manuals, maintenance orders, or technical bulletins), prototypes, software upgrades, and licensing and manufacturing agreements for such items.

Aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy:  The term aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy includes activities such as the production, procurement, development, design, testing, servicing, financing, distribution, use, or transport involving the Russian Federation and its airspace, of aircraft or any other device used or intended to be used for flight or activities in the air or in space,  missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, space-based vehicles, satellites, high-altitude balloons, any other device that operates above the surface of the earth, and any items, components, parts, or accessories intended for the foregoing; airports or any other area of land or water used or intended to be used for a purpose related to the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation; and any related activities, including the provision or receipt of goods, services, or technology involving the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Date Updated: December 22, 2023