Government of Canada has put new measures in place to help people affected by the ongoing situation in Ukraine. 

Provided services:

• urgently processing new and replacement passports and travel documents for citizens and permanent residents of Canada in Ukraine, so they can return to Canada at any time 

• prioritizing applications from people who currently live in Ukraine for
  • permanent residence
  • proof of citizenship
  • temporary residence
  • citizenship grant for adoption
• granting exemptions for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Ukrainian nationals to enter Canada
• adding new ways to make sure people who contact us get answers as fast as possible 
• extending a temporary public policy that lets some visitors in Canada, including Ukrainians, apply for a work permit from within Canada

This means people who get a job offer can stay in Canada and start working while their work permit application is processed.

More information and the latest updates are available at the next link >>

As the military action in Ukraine intensifies, Canada continues to impose pressure upon Russia by way of, among other things, economic sanctions.

As described in detail in our client alert of February 28, 2022, Canada published its first two rounds of sanctions applicable to each of Russia and Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and announced a third round of sanctions for Russia on February 25, 2022, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated would target Russian President Vladimir Putin, his former chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Canada also announced additional sanctions for Belarus, targeting 57 individuals, for aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.[1]

On March 1, 2022, Canada published two further amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations (the “Russia Regulations”),[2] and on March 2, 2022, announced its fourth round of sanctions for Russia, focusing on the Russian energy sector.[3]

The amendments for Belarus, announced on February 25, 2022, remain forthcoming.

New Russian sanctions target 18 members of Russia’s Security Council, including President Putin

In an amendment effective February 28, 2022,[4] Canada added an additional 18 individuals to Schedule 1 of the Russia Regulations, to which listed persons the general dealings prohibitions apply. This bring the total number of listed persons in Schedule 1 of the Russia Regulations to 520 — up from 130 (or 300%) before the two February 24, 2022 amendments were published (see our February 28, 2022 client alert for specifics on those amendments).

According to the Canadian government’s website, these individuals are “members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation responsible for these actions, including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov”.[5]

Authors John W. Boscariol, Ljiljana Stanic, Ashley Taborda

Read more

Case studies on a practical application of sanctions in Russia.

Review the file here >>

Canada has imposed new economic sanctions against Russia in response to its unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Canadian government has described the invasion as an “egregious step” and “a blatant violation of international law and the rules-based international order”. It noted the invasion is “a continuation and acceleration of the violent steps taken by Russia since early 2014 to undermine Ukrainian security and sovereignty, and have rendered the Minsk Agreements moot”.[1] In the words of Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “fundamental challenge to the world order that has kept us safe since the Second World War”.[2]

On February 22, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a “first round” of sanctions, after Russia signed a decree recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. These measures came into effect on February 24, 2022 and listed 351 persons, the members of the Russian Duma (lower parliamentary house), as well as two Russian banks. The Prime Minister described this “first round” as follows:

We will ban Canadians from all financial dealings with the so-called independent states of Luhansk and Donetsk. We will sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted for the illegal decision to recognize these so-called republics. We will ban Canadians from engaging in purchases of Russian sovereign debt, and we will apply additional sanctions on two State-backed Russian banks and prevent any financial dealings with them.[3]

On February 24, 2022, Canada announced a second round of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion, including restrictions on 58 additional Russian individuals and entities, including banks, financial elites and their families, sanctioning members of the Russian Security Council, imposing restrictions on four Ukrainian individuals for their collaboration with Russia to destabilize Ukraine, and restricting exports of dual-use and other controlled items to Russia by halting the issuance of any new export or brokering permits and cancelling existing permits, with a limited number of exceptions for critical medical supply chains.[4] Canadian export controls appear notably more narrow in scope than those imposed by the U.S., as discussed below.

On February 25, 2022, Canada announced its third round of sanctions, indicating that it would be placing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, his former chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Canada further announced that additional sanctions would be applied to Belarus, targeting 57 individuals, for aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.[5] Canada had already suspended the issuance of new export and brokering permits for controlled items to Belarus effective November 2020.[6] On February 27, 2022, Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft.[7] 

In imposing these sanctions, Canada has acted in coordination with a number of international allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, although there can be significant differences in the substance and application of these measures, including the targeted parties, among the allies’ sanctions programs.

Given the significant participation of Russian businesses, and in particular Russian banks, in the global economy, these sanctions measures are anticipated to have a greater impact than any sanctions program in recent history. Although Russia is not one of Canada’s leading trade and investment partners, annual goods and services flows between the two countries exceed CAD$1.8 billion,[8] Russian foreign direct investment in Canada exceeds CAD$1.7 billion,[9] and Canadian direct investment in Russia totals approximately CAD$3.5 billion.[10] This far exceeds trade and investment with any other country subject to Canadian economic sanctions.

Read the full article >>

Overview of the sanctions updates related to Russia - Ukraine conflict

read here >>      watch here >>

You can read an original version here.

Starting February 21, 2022 foreign citizens will be able to receive COVID-certificates with a QR code certifying the presence of antibodies to the COVID-19 pathogen, according to the published resolution of the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova.

Such a certificate can be obtained by foreign citizens who have antibodies detected as a result of laboratory tests conducted in an organization that conducts tests for the presence of antibodies and is connected to the system of the federal budgetary institution of science "Central Research Institute of Epidemiology" of Rospotrebnadzor, on the territory of the Russian Federation and uploaded to the Gosuslugi portal. The certificate will be issued within three days and will be valid for six months.

The certificate will be valid for six months.

A certificate based on the results of the antibody test will be issued after the information is posted on the Gosuslugi portal within three calendar days from the date of submission of the relevant application. As in the case of obtaining a certificate of vaccination, the document will be generated automatically in Russian and English, and can be sent by e-mail or downloaded in PDF format.

To receive a certificate, foreign citizens must enter the following information on the "specialized page" of Gosuslugi website: date of birth, ID number and "order number of the laboratory test".

The certificate will contain data on the date of the test, the method of testing and the medical organization that carried it out, and the user's personal number will also be indicated on the Gosuslugi.

At the same time, the requirements for the level of antibodies have not been established – their presence in the body is sufficient.

NUR-SULTAN – The Atyrau region is one of the largest industrial regions of Kazakhstan. The region’s economy now accounts for more than 10 percent of the national gross domestic product. Approximately 30 percent of investments attracted to the country come from this region. The share of Atyrau in total industrial output of Kazakhstan has reached 20 percent this year.  

The region observed positive trends in all main socio-economic indicators in the five months of 2021, Akim (Governor) of the Atyrau region Makhambet Dosmukhambetov said in an interview to PrimeMinister.kz. 

This May, the government approved the region’s socio-economic plan for 2021-2025. “It is expected to attract investments worth 8.6 trillion tenge (US$20 billion) and to implement projects such as the expansion of the Tengiz field, the Kashagan development project, and the construction of an oil and gas chemical facility,” said Dosmukhambetov.

It is reported that a gas processing plant with a capacity of 1 billion cubic meters per day will be built at the Kashagan field. A polypropylene plant launched by Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries (KPI) is also under construction. The project will increase oil production by approximately 25,000 barrels per day at the Kashagan field. 

It is also planned to modernize equipment at the Kashagan oilfield to increase production by 2 million tons per year, and to build a facility for hot-dip galvanizing processes at the Atyrauneftemash plant. 

“The project on the Kashagan field expansion is important. It includes the construction of the Third Generation Plant (3GP), the launch of sour gas injection technology, a large gas turbine power plant, wells, and other installations… These projects determine the dynamics of the country’s oil industry development,” he said. 

The local authorities have been working to attract more investments, which constitute about 30 percent of the total investment in the country. 

In addition to the KPI project, negotiations are underway between the Samruk Kazyna Welfare Fund, KazMunayGas National Company and the Russian company Sibur Holding to launch a joint project in the region.  

The authorities held talks with Russia’s TATNEFT group of companies on the production of synthetic rubber. 

“The National Industrial Petrochemical Technoparkspecial economic zone has been created in the region to work in this direction. Special areas were allocated, and the construction of additional infrastructure is planned. All these measures will provide many job opportunities for locals,” he said. 

This April, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that the Atyrau region has made a special contribution to the development of the economy of an independent Kazakhstan.

The leading oil and gas companies including Tengizchevroil, Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, and the North Caspian Operating Company operate in the region. 

More information available at: https://astanatimes.com/2021/06/atyrau-region-implements-major-oil-and-gas-projects-to-attract-more-investments/

Today the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Yeraly Tugzhanov chaired a meeting of Interdepartmental Commission to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

At the meeting of the Interregional Commission, relaxations were discussed in the order of crossing the state border of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Kazakhstani and foreign citizens during the quarantine period. The Interdepartmental Commission made a decision to remove temporary restrictions: on the departure of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan to foreign countries through international airports of the Republic of Kazakhstan; for entry / transit travel to / through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan through international airports to foreigners from countries with a visa-free regime, as well as from countries with direct air traffic (regular, non-scheduled charter flights), subject to visa requirements.

Also, for citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the restrictive period for traveling to foreign countries through road crossings has been halved, and now Kazakhstanis can travel once every 15 days. The only entry requirement is that all arrivals from abroad are required to provide a negative PCR test certificate for COVID-19, valid for 72 hours, regardless of vaccination. A certificate is not required for children under the age of 5 if the accompanying person has a negative test document. These measures are aimed at enhancing economic activity, developing the domestic tourism business and improving the country's investment climate. On Jan. 21, during a meeting with business representatives, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Government to review approaches to the application of quarantine measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.

Source: https://primeminister.kz/en/news/ukimette-kazakstannyn-memlekettik-shekarasyn-kesip-otu-tartibin-zhenildetu-maseleleri-talkylandy-71430

On January 31, 2022, Canada Eurasia Russia Business Association (CERBA) jointly with the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration organized a virtual meeting between Nathan Hunt, Founder and CERBA Moscow Board Chairman of CERBA, and future managers of the Arctic regions of Russia – second year students of the Master degree program "Management of the Development of the Regions of the North" at the Presidential Academy. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the development of Canada-Russia relations in the context of education and business.

Russia and Canada have extensive experience in interregional cooperation in the Arctic. It promotes the exchange of experience on many issues, among which the most important are the ways and forms of interaction of business with the indigenous peoples of the North, environmental protection, entrepreneurship development, social responsibility of business in relation to the territory of presence. The activity of Kinross Gold Corporation in the Chukotka Autonomous Region, its significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the indigenous population of Chukotka was separately noted, but it was especially interesting to hear about what hinders the development of small and medium-sized Canadian businesses in Russia. In the context of cooling of relations between Canada and Russia, it was important to understand the prospects for cooperation, and the meeting showed that in the Arctic, no political trends affect the implementation of plans and the desire to work together in this region.

This is a prime example of the education outreach initiatives that CERBA conducts to strengthen the reputation and create a positive public image of Canadian business in Russia, and to promote the standards and values of Canadian business among the younger generation of Russian businessmen.

CERBA extends its special gratitude to Vera Smorchkova, Professor, Doctor of Economics, Head of the Management Training Program for the North and the Arctic, for the help with organization of this event.