OFSI publishes fertiliser finance licence for Russia
The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (‘OFSI’) has published a general licence which ‘permits the provision of financial services and making funds available to a person connected with Russia for the supply or delivery of specified fertiliser goods from Russia to a third country, and making specified fertiliser goods available from Russia to a person in a third country, where they are intended for agricultural use only.’
Specifically, the licence authorises (subject to conditions)
‘(a) the direct or indirect provision of financial services, as otherwise prohibited by Regulations 28(1)(b) or (c) or 46Z1(1)(b) or (c) of the Regulations, to a person connected with Russia in pursuance of or in connection with an arrangement whose object or effect is:
1. the direct or indirect supply or delivery of specified fertiliser goods from Russia to a third country;
2. directly or indirectly making specified fertiliser goods available from Russia to a person in a third country,
(b) directly or indirectly making funds available, as otherwise prohibited by Regulations 28(2) or 46Z1(2) of the Regulations, to a person connected with Russia in pursuance of or in connection with an arrangement mentioned in paragraph 1(a).’
The licence explains that ‘a third country’ means ‘a country that is not the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or Russia,’ and that the ‘specified fertiliser goods’ referred to are:
(a) ammonium nitrate, including fertilisers and fertiliser blends containing more than 15% by weight ammonium nitrate, except liquid fertilisers (containing any amount of ammonium nitrate) or dry fertilisers containing less than 15% by weight ammonium nitrate, controlled under entry 1C997, as listed in Part 1A of Schedule 2A (Critical-industry goods and critical-industry technology); and
(b) Ammonia in aqueous solution controlled under commodity code 2814 20 as listed in Schedule 3E Part 2 (G7 dependency and further goods list goods).
