COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION (CFSP) 2021/2199

13.12.2021 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | LI 445/23 ---|---|---|--- * * * COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION (CFSP) 2021/2199 of 13 December 2021 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 31(2) thereof, Having regard to Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP of 31 May 2013 concerning restrictive measures against Syria (1), and in particular Article 30(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Whereas: (1) | On 31 May 2013, the Council adopted Decision 2013/255/CFSP. ---|--- (2) | The Council remains deeply concerned about the situation in Syria. ---|--- (3) | The Wagner Group, a Russia-based unincorporated private military entity, provides a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad's war efforts in Syria, in particular by training and directing Syrian forces and regime-affiliated militias. ---|--- (4) | The Council considers that two persons involved in the military operations of the Wagner group in Syria, as well as three companies benefiting from and supporting the Syrian regime should be added to the list of natural and legal persons, entities or bodies subject to restrictive measures in Annex I to Decision 2013/255/CFSP. ---|--- (5) | Decision 2013/255/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly, ---|--- HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 Annex I to Decision 2013/255/CFSP is amended as set out in the Annex to this Decision. Article 2 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Done at Brussels, 13 December 2021. For the Council The President J. BORRELL FONTELLES * * * (1) OJ L 147, 1.6.2013, p. 14. * * * ANNEX Annex I to Decision 2013/255/CFSP is amended as follows: (1) | the following entries are added to the list set out in Section A (Persons): | | Name | Identifying information | Reasons | Date of listing ---|---|---|---|--- ‘316. | Andrey Nikolaevich TROSHEV (a.k.a. Andrei Mykolayvych TROSHEV) Андрей Николаевич ТРОШЕВ | Position(s): Retired colonel, Founding member and Executive Director (Chief of Staff) of the Wagner Group; Rank: Retired Colonel; Call sign: Siedoy; Date of birth: 5.4.1953; Place of birth: Leningrad, former USSR (now Russian Federation); Nationality: Russian; Relatives/Associates: Dimitriy Utkin (Wagner Group Founder); Andrey Bogatov (Head of the 4th Attack and Reconnaissance Company of the Wagner Group), Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov (Commander of the 1st Attack and Reconnaissance Company of the Wagner Group); Gender: male | Executive Director (Chief of Staff) of the Wagner Group, which operates in Syria and trains and directs Syrian forces. The Wagner Group also supports the Assad regime and fights alongside regime-affiliated militias and the Syrian army. Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. He was particularly involved in the area of Deir ez-Zor. As such, he provides a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad's war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime. | 13.12.2021 317. | Andrey Mikhailovich BOGATOV (a.k.a. Andrei Mychailovych BOGATOV) Андрей Михайлович БОГАТОВ | Position(s): Head of the 4th Attack and Reconnaissance Company of the Wagner Group; Call sign: Brodiaga; Wagner group ID: M-1601; Date of birth: 14.6.1964; Place of birth: Stary Oskol , Belgorod region , former USSR (now Russian Federation); Nationality: Russian; Relatives/Associates: Dimitriy Utkin (Wagner Group Founder); Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev (Founding member and Executive Director (Chief of Staff) of the Wagner Group), Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov (Commander of the 1st Attack and Reconnaissance Company of the Wagner Group); Gender: male | Head of the 4th Attack and Reconnaissance Company of the Wagner Group, which operates in Syria and trains and directs Syrian forces. The Wagner Group also supports the Assad regime and fights alongside regime-affiliated militias and the Syrian army. Andrey Bogatov commands the operations of the Wagner Group and is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. He was particularly involved in the battle of Palmyra. As such, he provides a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad's war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime. | 13.12.2021’ (2) | the following entries are added to the list set out in Section B (entities): | | Name | Identifying information | Reasons | Date of listing ---|---|---|---|--- ‘79. | Velada LLC OOO Велада | Address: Ochakovskoye Shosse, Dom 28, Building 2, Local 3, Room 8, Moscow, 119530, Russian Federation; Date of creation: 29.6. 2015 | Velada LLC is a private company that is involved in the oil and gas sector in Syria. In December 2019, the Syrian parliament approved a contract granting Velada LLC the right to develop oil and gas in Syria, including in oilfields in the regime-controlled areas in Northeast Syria and a gas field north of Damascus. Thus, it benefits from or supports the Syrian regime. | 13.12.2021 80. | Mercury LLC OOO Меркурий | Address: Leninsky Prospekt, Dom 137, Building 1, Local 2, Room 5, Moscow, Russian Federation | Mercury LLC is a private company involved in the oil and gas sector in Syria. In December 2019, the Syrian parliament approved a contract granting Mercury LLC the right to develop oil and gas in Syria, including in oilfields in the regime-controlled areas in Northeast Syria and a gas field in the north of Damascus. Thus, it benefits from or supports the Syrian regime. | 13.12.2021 81. | Evro Polis LLC OOO Евро Полис | Address: Ulitsa BratevGozozankinykh, Dom 2B, Pomeshchenie 3.1., Krasnogorsk, 143409, Russian Federation; Relatives/Associates: General Petroleum Corp. | Evro Polis LLC is a private company linked to the Wagner Group in Syria, involved in the mining, oil and gas sectors in Syria. Evro Polis LLC is used as a front for the Wagner Group in Syria. It has signed a number of contracts with the Syrian regime, through the state-owned General Petroleum Corp., under which it receives 25 % of the proceeds from the production of oil and gas in fields captured by the Wagner Group. Thus, it benefits from or supports the Syrian regime. | 13.12.2021’ * * *