Since early 2014 the EU has imposed various sanctions with regard to Russia in connection with the situation in the Ukraine and the Crimea through a raft of different measures which have undergone expansion and renewal – we reported on the most recent continuation here.
Under recently adopted EU legislation some exceptions to this sanctions regime were made specifically concerning the space industry. The EU is permitting certain operations concerning certain pyrotechnics under the EU Common Military List which are necessary for the use of EU launch service providers, or, for EU space launch programmes including the European Space Agency, or, for the fuelling of satellites by EU satellite manufacturers.
More specifically, the sanctions regime will not prohibit:
- the sale, supply, transfer or export and to the import, purchase or transport of hydrazine in concentrations of 70 per cent or more;
- the import, purchase or transport of unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine; and,
- the sale, supply, transfer or export and to the import, purchase or transport of monomethyl hydrazine.
The hydrazine export amount is to be calculated in accordance with the launch or launches or the satellites for which it is made and must not exceed a total quantity of 800 kg for each individual launch or satellite. The monomethyl hydrazine export amount is to be calculated in accordance with the launch or launches or the satellites for which it is made.
For a summary of the current EU sanctions regime with regard to Russia and the Ukraine please look here.
André Bywater is a commercial lawyer with Cordery in London where he focuses on regulatory compliance, processes and investigations.
André Bywater Cordery, Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4HH
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