Search for ships currently entered in the London P&I Club by their name or I M O number Search Search for correspondents in our global network by country/area or port/city Search US Sanctions relating to Russia – Ventspils and Latvian SDNs 13 December 2019 US law firm Freehill Hogan & Mahar (“Freehills”) advise that due to alleged serious human rights abuses and corruption, Aivars Lembergs, mayor of Ventspils, has been made a SDN by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 13818. OFAC has also designated as SDNs four Latvia-based entities that are owned or controlled by him: Ventspils Freeport Authority Attistibas Agentura (also known as Ventspils Development Agency), Biznesa Attistibas Asociacija (also known as Business Development Association), and Latvijas Tranzita Biznesa Asociacija (also known as Latvian Transit Business Association). Members, either due to call or arranging calls to Ventspils, should particularly note that one of the designated entities is Ventspils Freeport Authority. This may result in calls at the Port and payments to the Port Authority being in breach of US sanctions. Winding Down Period Trade with Ventspils is currently permitted for a 30-day period (ie until 12:01 am US Eastern Standard Time on 8 January 2020) under an OFAC General License. Freehills advise that this is “generally understood” to apply to both US and non-US persons/entities. With regard to the winding down period, Members calling at Ventspils should be aware that: Any call at Ventspils must actually be pursuant to the winding down of a contract concluded prior to the imposition of sanctions; Payments made to the Port after the end of the winding down period (even if the call was prior to that) may also be a breach of sanctions. After the End of the Winding Down Period In relation to calls at the Port or payments to the Port Authority, Freehills advise that “U.S. persons will be prohibited as of January 8 from en