Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
Date: 2023-05-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Russia, Ukraine, economic sanctions, international sanctions, legal person, natural person, territorial dispute, territorial law, trade restriction

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY Brussels, 5.5.2023  JOIN(2023) 16 final/2               DOWNGRADED ON 10.10.2023 2023/0153 (NLE)  Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine   
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

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2023/0153 (NLE) 

Joint Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in 
respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and 
independence of Ukraine 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 215 thereof, 

Having regard to Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive 
measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty 
and independence of Ukraine1, 

Having  regard  to  the  joint  proposal  of  the  High  Representative  of  the  Union  for  Foreign 
Affairs and Security Policy and of the European Commission, 

Whereas:  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

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Council  Regulation  (EU)  No 269/20142 gives  effect  to  restrictive  measures  provided 
for in Decision 2014/145/CFSP. 

the  Council 

adopted  Decision 

(CFSP)  XXX, amending 
On  XXX/2023, 
Decision 2014/145/CFSP, which introduced a further criterion for the listing of natural 
or legal persons, entities or bodies subject to asset freeze and the prohibition to make 
funds and economic resources available to designated persons and entities in response 
to information warfare conducted by Russia to implement its war of aggression against 
Ukraine. Decision (CFSP) XXX also amended one of the existing listing criteria.  

Decision (CFSP) XXX  also  introduced further derogations  from  the asset  freeze  and 
the  prohibition  to  make  funds  and  economic  resources  available  to  certain  listed 
entities to allow for the divestment from Russian companies and the disposal of certain 
types of securities held with a listed entity. 

Decision  (CFSP) XXX also  extended to  certain  newly-listed banks derogations from 
the  asset  freeze  and  from  the  prohibition  on  making  available  funds  and  economic 
resources that were applicable to previously-listed banks. 

It  is  also  appropriate  to  provide  further  clarifications  regarding  the  processing  and 
exchanging of information by the competent authorities of the Member States. 

The  amendments  made  to  Decision 2014/145/CFSP  by  Decision  (CFSP)  XXX  fall 
within the scope of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and therefore regulatory 
action at the level of the Union is necessary in order to implement them, in particular 
with a view to ensuring their uniform application in all Member States. 

OJ L 078, 17.3.2014, p. 16. 
Council Regulation  (EU)  No 269/2014  of 17 March 2014 concerning  restrictive measures  in  respect  of  actions  undermining or 
threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ L 78, 17.3.2014, p. 6).  

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(7) 

Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 is amended as follows:  

(1) 

in Article 3(1), letter (h) is replaced by the following: 

Article 1 

‘(h) natural or legal persons, entities or bodies circumventing the Union’s restrictive measures 
by activities which have the aim or result of frustrating the prohibitions in this Regulation, in 
Council Regulations (EU) No 692/2014, (EU) No 833/2014 or (EU) 2022/263 or in Council 
Decisions 2014/ 145/CFSP, 2014/386/CFSP, 2014/512/CFSP or (CFSP) 2022/266;’ 

(2) 

in Article 3(1), the following point is added: 

‘(i)  legal  persons,  entities  or  bodies  operating  in  the  Russian  IT-sector  with  a  license 
administered by the FSB Center for Licensing, Certification, and Protection of State Secrets 
and by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade;’ 

(3) 

in Article 6b, the following paragraph is added: 

‘2e. By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities of a Member State may 
authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources belonging to the entities 
listed  under  entry  numbers  [OJ:  add  numbers  of  newly  listed  banks  in  Annex  I]  under  the 
heading “Entities” in Annex I, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources 
to  those  entities,  under  such  conditions  as  the  competent  authorities  deem  appropriate  and 
after  having  determined  that  such  funds  or  economic  resources  are  necessary  for  the 
termination  by  [OJ:  add  date  six  months  after  entry  into  force  of  this  Regulation]  of 
operations,  contracts,  or  other  agreements,  including  correspondent  banking  relations, 
concluded with those entities before [OJ: add date of entry into force of this Regulation].’ 

(4) 

Article 6b is amended as follows:  

(a) the following paragraph is added: 

‘5aa.  By  way  of  derogation  from  Article  2,  competent  authorities  may  authorise  the 
conversion by [OJ: please insert date 3 months after entry into force] by nationals or residents 
of  a  Member  State  or  an  entity  established  in  the  Union  of  American  Depositary  Receipts 
(‘ADRs’) with Russian underlying security held with the entity listed under entry number 101 
under the heading “Entities” in Annex I for the purpose of selling the underlying security, and 
the  making  available  of  funds  linked  to  the  conversion  of  the  ADR  and  to  the  sale  of  the 
underlying security directly or indirectly to that entity in Russia after having determined that: 

(a) 

the ADR was held with the mentioned entity before 3 June 2022;  

the holder of the ADR is able to demonstrate that such conversion is necessary for the 
(b) 
sale  of  the  underlying  security  to  a  counterparty  that  has  been  identified  prior  to  the 
conversion; 

the  sale  of  the  underlying  security  is  compliant  with  prohibitions  under  Council 

(c) 
Regulation No 833/2014, including Articles 5 and 5f; and 

(d) 

no funds will be made available to any other entity listed in Annex I.’ 

(b)  the following paragraph is added: 

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‘5c. By way of derogation from Article 2, the competent authorities of a Member State may 
authorise the release of  certain  frozen  funds or economic resources belonging  to  the natural 
person listed under entry numbers 695 under the heading ‘Persons’ in Annex I, or the making 
available of certain funds or economic resources to this natural person or an entity owned by 
this natural person, under such conditions as the competent authorities deem appropriate and 
after  having  determined  that  such  funds  or  economic  resources  are  necessary  for  the 
completion  of  transactions,  including  sales,  which  are  strictly  necessary  for  the  wind-down, 
by 31 August 2023, of a joint venture  or similar legal arrangement established in Russia with 
this natural person or an entity owned by this natural person before 28 February 2022.’ 

(5) 

in paragraph 1 of Article 6e, the reference to ‘entry numbers 53, 54, 55, 79, 80, 81, 
82,  108,  126, 127,  198,  199  and 200  under  the  heading  ‘Entities’  in  Annex  I’  is 
replaced by a reference to ‘entry numbers 53, 54, 55, 79, 80, 81, 82, 108, 126, 127, 
198, 199, 200 [OJ: add numbers of newly listed banks in Annex I] under the heading 
‘Entities’ in Annex I’; 

(6) 

in Article 8, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: 

‘4.   The  competent  authorities  of  the  Member States,  including  enforcement  authorities, 
customs  authorities  within  the  meaning  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  952/2013,  competent 
authorities  in  the  meaning  of  the  Regulation  (EU)  575/2013,  Directive  (EU)  2015/849  and 
Directive (EU) 2014/65 as well as administrators of official registers where natural persons, 
legal  persons,  entities  and  bodies  as  well  as  immovable  or  movable  property  are  registered, 
shall  process  and  exchange  without  delay  information,  including  personal  data  and,  if 
necessary, the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 1a, with other competent authorities 
of their Member State, of other Member States and the Commission, in particular when they 
detect instances  of  breach,  circumvention  and  attempts  at  breach  or  circumvention  of  the 
prohibitions set out in this Regulation.’ 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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