On October 25, 2023, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended Russia-related General License No. 8H once again extending the authorization to conduct transactions involving Vnesheconombank, Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank, VTB Bank, Alfa-Bank, Rosbank, Bank Zenit, Bank Saint-Petersburg, and the Central Bank of Russia that are related to energy until May 1, 2024.
The original General License No. 8, issued on February 24, 2022, had previously been amended to expand the list of Russian financial institutions and was scheduled to expire on November 1, 2023. The term “related to energy” means the extraction, production, refinement, liquefaction, gasification, regasification, conversion, enrichment, fabrication, transport, or purchase of petroleum, including crude oil, lease condensates, unfinished oils, natural gas liquids, petroleum products, natural gas, or other products capable of producing energy, such as coal, wood, or agricultural products used to manufacture biofuels, or uranium in any form, as well as the development, production, generation, transmission, or exchange of power, through any means, including nuclear, thermal, and renewable energy sources.
General License No. 8H authorizes energy-related transactions through 12:01 a.m. EST, May 1, 2024. Certain dealings remain unauthorized under this general license and therefore require close analysis.
For prior updates on this topic, see Updates dated May 8, 2023, December 15, 2022, June 14, 2022, April 7, 2022, and February 28, 2022.