Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017

Administered by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Legislation au F2017L00675 In force Legislative Instrument

Legislation content

Explanatory Statement

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs

 

Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011

 

Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017

 

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 (the Regulations) commenced on 15 December 2011.  The purpose of the Regulations is to facilitate the conduct of Australia’s relations with certain countries, and with specific entities or persons outside Australia, through the imposition of autonomous sanctions in relation to those countries, or targeting those entities or persons.

 

Paragraph 6 (1) (a) of the Regulations authorises the Minister for Foreign Affairs (the Minister), by legislative instrument, to designate a person or entity on the basis that the person or entity is mentioned in an item of the table in regulation 6.  The purpose of such a designation is to subject the designated person or entity to targeted financial sanctions.  The designated person or entity becomes the object of the prohibition in regulation 14 (which prohibits directly or indirectly making an asset available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person or entity, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18).  An asset owned or controlled by a designated person or entity is a “controlled asset”, subject to the prohibition in regulation 15 (which requires a person who holds a controlled asset to freeze that asset, by prohibiting that person from either using or dealing with that asset, or allowing it to be used or dealt with, or facilitating the use of or dealing with it, other than as authorised by a permit granted under regulation 18).

 

Paragraph 6 (1) (b) of the Regulations authorises the Minister, by legislative instrument, to declare a person for the purpose of preventing the person from travelling to, entering or remaining in Australia on the basis that the person is mentioned in an item of the table in regulation 6.

 

In June 2014, the Foreign Minister designated and declared 50 persons and designated 11 entities for the purpose of paragraph 6(1) of the Regulations on the basis that they were mentioned in an item of the table in regulation 6, that is: a person or entity that the Minister is satisfied is responsible for, or complicit in, the threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

 

Regulation 9 of the Regulations effectively provides that these designations and declarations would cease to have effect on the third anniversary of the day in which the designation or declaration took effect unless declared to continue to have effect.  Section 3 of the Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017 (the Amendment List) contains the Minister’s declaration under subregulation 9(3) that the designations and declarations of the following persons that were originally designated and declared in June 2014 continue to have effect:

 

 

  1. Serhiy Valeriyovich AKSYONOV
  1. Oleg Yevgenyvich BELAVANTSEV
  2. Deniz Valentinovich BEREZOVSKIY
  3. Evgeni Viktorovich BUSHMIN
  4. Aleksei Mikhailovich CHALIY
  5. Vladimir Michailovich DZHABAROV
  6. Andrei Alexandrovich FURSENKO
  7. Aleksandr Viktorovich GALKIN
  8. Igor Vsevolodovich GIRKIN; also known as Igor STRELKOV
  9. Sergey Yur’yevich GLAZYEV
  10. Alexei Alexeyevich GROMOV
  11. Sergei Borisovich IVANOV
  12. Andrei Aleksandrovich KLISHAS
  13. Volodomyr Andriyovych KONSTANTYNOV
  14. Yuri Valentinovich KOVALCHUK
  15. Olga Fedorovna KOVITIDI
  16. Dmitry Nikolayevich KOZAK
  17. Vladimir Igorevich KOZHIN
  18. Mikhail Grigorevich MALYSHEV
  19. Valentina Ivanovna MATVIYENKO
  20. Viktor Volodymyrovich MEDVEDCHUK
  21. Valery Kirillovich MEDVEDEV
  22. Sergei Mikhailovich MIRONOV
  23. Yelena Borisovna MIZULINA
  24. Sergey Yevgenyevich NARYSHKIN
  25. Viktor Alekseevic OZEROV
  26. Vyacheslav Vladimirovich PONOMARYOV
  27. Denis Vladimirovich PUSHILIN
  28. Aleksei PUSHKOV
  29. Dmitry Olegovich ROGOZIN
  30. Arkady Borisovich ROTENBERG
  31. Boris Borisovich ROTENBERG
  32. Nikolai Ivanovich RYZHKOV
  33. Oleg Genrikhovich SAVELYEV
  34. Anatoliy Alekseevich SIDOROV
  35. Leonid Eduardovich SLUTSKIY
  36. Vladislav Yur’yevich SURKOV
  37. Rustam Ilmirovich TEMIRGALIEV
  38. Gennady  Nikolayevich TIMCHENKO
  39. Aleksandr Borisovich TOTOONOV
  40. Sergey Pavlovych TSEKOV
  41. Aleksandr Viktorovich VITKO
  42. Vyacheslav VOLODIN
  43. Vladimir Ivanovich YAKUNIN
  44. Viktor Fedorovych YANUKOVYCH
  45. Sergei Vladimirovich ZHELEZNYAK
  46. Pyotr Anatoliyovych ZIMA

 

 

 

Section 4 of the Amendment List contains the Minister’s declaration under subregulation 9(3) that the designations of the following entities that were originally designated in June 2014 continue to have effect:

 

  1. Bank Rossiya
  1. Invest Capital Bank
  2. SMP Bank
  3. Stroygazmontazh; also known as SGM Group
  4. Aquanika; also known as Russkoye Vremya LLC
  5. Avia Group LLC
  6. Avia Group Nord LLC
  7. Stroytransgaz Group
  8. The Volga Group
  9. Transoil
  10. Chernomorneftegaz; also known as Crimean Oil and Gas Company

 

The following persons listed in Schedule 3 of the Amendment List are designated by the Minister for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Regulations and declared by the Minister for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)(b) of the Regulations on the basis that the person is mentioned in item 9 of the table in regulation 6; that is, “a person or entity that the Minister is satsifed is responsible for, or complicit in, the threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”:

 

  1. Vladimir USTINOV
  2. Dmitry Ovsyannikov
  3. Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov
  4. Colonel-General Andrei KARTAPOLOV

 

Section 7 of the Amendment List contains the Minister’s revocation of the designations and declarations of the following deceased persons that were originally designated and declared in June 2014:

 

  1. Igor Dmitrievich Sergun
  2. Oleg Evgenevich Pantaleev
  3. Yuriy Gennadyevich Zherebtsov

 

The Amendment List effectively renews the targeted financial sanctions and/or travel restrictions that would otherwise lapse on persons and entities that are responsible for, or complicit in, the threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.  The Amendment List effectively applies targeted financial sanctions and travel restrictions to a further four persons that are responsible for, or complicit in, the threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. 

 

The legal framework for the imposition of autonomous sanctions by Australia, of which the Regulations and the Amendment List are part, has been the subject of extensive consultation with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders since May 2010. 

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Department) conducts ongoing public consultations, including with the Australian financial services sector and broader business community, in relation to these types of measures. 

 

The Department undertook public consultation from 27 April to 17 May through its website seeking submissions from interested parties and to afford natural justice to those persons and entities whose designations or declarations were to lapse and are being reviewed.  No submissions were received in response to these public consultations.


Statement of Compatability with Human Rights

 

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

 

Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017

 

The Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017 (the Amendment List) is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

 

A person or entity subject to designation or declaration under regulation 6 of the Regulations may apply to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the revocation of those decisions (regulation 11 of the Regulations).  Decisions under both regulations 6 and 11 of the Regulations are judicially reviewable.

 

The targeted financial sanctions imposed on persons and entities designated under paragraph 6 (1) (a) of the Regulations do not affect the title to any asset owned or controlled by the designated person or entity.  The Minister may grant a permit authorising a use of, or dealing with, an asset that is owned or controlled by a designated person or entity, or authorising another person to provide assets to the designated person or entity, to meet basic expenses, including for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines or medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, public utility charges, reasonable professional fees, reimbursement of expenses associated with the provision of legal services, or fees or service charges that are in accordance with a law in force in Australia for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen assets (regulations 18 and 20 of the Regulations).

 

Similarly, the Minister may grant a permit if required, to satisfy any pre-existing judicial, administrative or arbitral lien or judgement awarded to another (non-designated) person or entity, as well as to allow payments required under contracts, agreements or obligations made before the date on which the designation became effective.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) undertook public consultation through its website from 27 April to 17 May seeking submissions from interested parties and to afford natural justice to those persons and entities whose designations or declarations were to lapse and were being reviewed.  No submissions were received.

 

Regulation 19 authorises the Minister to waive the operation of a declaration under regulation 6 so as to allow the person to travel to, enter or remain in Australia, either on the grounds that it would be in the national interest or on humanitarian grounds.

 

 

 

Overview

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 were enacted to facilitate Australia's diplomatic relations with specific countries and entities by enabling the imposition of autonomous sanctions. The Regulations, which came into effect on 15 December 2011, empower the Minister for Foreign Affairs to designate or declare individuals or entities as a response to threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity, such as those posed to Ukraine. This was introduced to address the need for targeted measures against individuals and entities responsible for such threats. The enacting body was the Parliament of Australia, with a policy objective to support international stability and security by imposing sanctions where necessary. The Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017 renews and extends the sanctions previously imposed on certain individuals and entities linked to the destabilisation of Ukraine, ensuring continued application of these measures. The process involved extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including the financial services sector and the broader business community, to ensure the measures were both effective and compliant with human rights standards. The Amendment List was developed to ensure that the sanctions continue to apply to those responsible for or complicit in undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also extends sanctions to additional individuals and entities identified as contributing to the destabilisation of Ukraine. The regulations provide mechanisms for designated individuals or entities to apply for the revocation of sanctions and permit certain transactions to meet basic needs and legal obligations. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade conducted public consultations to ensure natural justice and received no submissions. The measures are designed to align with human rights, providing judicial review and permitting exceptions for basic needs and pre-existing obligations.

Scope and Application

The Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 applies to individuals and entities, including those outside Australia, who may be designated or declared by the Minister for Foreign Affairs as responsible for, or complicit in, threats to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Regulations impose targeted financial sanctions and travel restrictions on these designated or declared persons and entities, prohibiting the making available of assets to or for their benefit and preventing them from travelling to, entering, or remaining in Australia. The scope of the Regulations extends nationally, as they are applicable across Australia. The regulations can be amended or extended through subordinate instruments, such as the Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017, which renews the sanctions and travel restrictions on certain individuals and entities. Furthermore, the Regulations provide mechanisms for the revocation of designations or declarations and the issuance of permits to allow certain dealings with assets or travel for specific purposes, such as meeting basic expenses or satisfying judicial or contractual obligations. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade conducts ongoing public consultations with stakeholders, including the financial services sector and broader business community, to ensure the measures are transparent and just.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 and the Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017 (Amendment List) are regulation 6, which allows the Minister for Foreign Affairs to designate or declare persons and entities for targeted sanctions, and regulation 9, which provides for the automatic cessation of such designations and declarations after three years unless otherwise declared. Regulation 14 prohibits the making of assets available to designated persons or entities, while regulation 15 prohibits the use or dealing with of controlled assets unless authorised by a permit. The Amendment List renews the sanctions on certain individuals and entities, extends the sanctions to four additional individuals, and revokes the sanctions on three deceased individuals. The Minister may grant permits for essential expenses and to satisfy pre-existing obligations or legal requirements. The obligations and requirements imposed by the Regulations and the Amendment List on parties or entities include the prohibition on making assets available to designated persons or entities, and the prohibition on using or dealing with controlled assets. Designated persons are also subject to travel restrictions under regulation 6. The Minister may issue permits to allow certain uses of assets or transactions that would otherwise be prohibited. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is required to consult with relevant stakeholders and provide opportunities for natural justice to those affected by the sanctions. The Regulations and the Amendment List provide for various civil and criminal consequences for breach. Violations of the prohibitions in regulations 14 and 15 may result in civil penalties under section 20 of the Regulations, which includes fines up to 500 penalty units ($91,500) for individuals and 5,000 penalty units ($915,000) for bodies corporate. In addition, the Regulations include a criminal offence for knowingly or recklessly contravening the prohibitions, which carries a maximum penalty of 10,000 penalty units ($1,830,000) for individuals and 50,000 penalty units ($9,150,000) for bodies corporate. The Regulations also include provisions for the enforcement of the sanctions, including the power to seize and forfeit assets. In summary, the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 and the Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons – Ukraine) Amendment List 2017 provide for the imposition of targeted financial sanctions and travel restrictions on individuals and entities responsible for, or complicit in, the threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Regulations and the Amendment List impose obligations on parties and entities to comply with the sanctions and provide for various civil and criminal consequences for breach. The Minister may grant permits to allow certain uses of assets or transactions that would otherwise be prohibited. The Regulations and the Amendment List have been subject to extensive consultation with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and are compatible with human rights and freedoms.

Legal classification tags

Area of Law
International Law
National Security Law
Instrument
Regulation
Concepts
Definitions & Interpretation
Licensing & Registration
Offence Provisions
Enforcement Powers
Regulatory Standards

Interactions

Authorises

All Versions

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.