News 05 Jan, 2021 Russian sanctions - Nord Stream 2 & TurkStream - PEESA amendments come into force Tony Paulson Head of Asia & Corporate Director Further to Notice to Members No.12 2020/2021 , the Club’s US attorneys Freehill Hogan and Mahar have advised that the anticipated amendments to the United States’ Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESA) have now come into force, following a vote by Congress to overrule President Trump's veto of the legislation. Download PDF As set out in our Notice, both the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and PEESA are aimed at preventing the provision of goods and services to assist Russia in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) & TurkStream (TS2) pipelines which are intended to carry Russian energy products into European markets. The amendments to PEESA now agreed by Congress increase the scope and impact of the various provisions on a wide range of vessels and activities that might be involved in these projects. Full details can be found in a helpful Client Alert issued by Freehill’s but it is worth repeating here some of the primary impacts of the newly implemented PEESA provisions: Among other things, PEESA now authorizes sanctions against vessels that engage in pipe-laying or “pipe-laying activities” for the construction of NS2 or TS2. Pipe-laying activities are defined as meaning “activities that facilitate pipe-laying, including site preparation, trenching, surveying, placing rocks, backfilling, stringing, bending, welding, coating, and lowering of pipe.” PEESA also authorizes sanctions against foreign persons who are determined to have knowingly: (i) sold, leased, or provided, or facilitated selling, leasing, or providing, those vessels for the construction of such a project; (ii) facilitated deceptive or structured transactions to provide those vessels for the construction of such a project; (iii) provided for those vessels underwriting services or insurance or reinsura