EU bans lawyers from advising Russian firms on sanctions

Russian companies cannot obtain legal advice on sanctions from European experts, unless it involves going to court, as follows from the updated clarifications of the European Commission (EC) on the provision of services under sanctions.

The EC document says that the responsibility for complying with EU sanctions is directly assigned to European, and not to Russian companies. Accordingly, according to the logic of the European Commission, Russian organizations should not at all turn to European lawyers for advice on compliance with sanctions restrictions. For permissions to conduct deals or transactions, European companies, and not their Russian counterparties, apply to the national competent authorities.

Also, European specialists can advise foreign subsidiaries of Russian companies, provided that these services are not in the interests of the parent company in Russia.

In general, consulting services in the field of sanctions compliance are a special case of legal services, the provision of which to the Russian authorities or organizations (any, including those not included in the sanctions lists) was banned by the EU under the eighth sanctions package. There are no specific exemptions for the provision of sanctions compliance services other than general exemptions. The ban does not apply to services necessary for exercising the right to legal protection, as well as for preparing documents for litigation or arbitration proceedings in the EU countries to which the Russian organization is a party.

In any case, the European Commission emphasizes, lawyers should pay special attention to ensuring that their services to Russian organizations cannot be used to circumvent sanctions.