US authorizes seizure of $25million Boeing 737 owned by Russia oil firm

The United States has obtained a warrant for the seizure of a $25million Boeing 737-7JU owned by Moscow based PJSC Rosneft Oil Company.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York authorized the seizure on March 8, 2023.

Authorities were given the go-ahead to seize the jet based on violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) and the recent sanctions issued against Russia.

Rosneft’s CEO, Igor Ivanovich Sechin, is a close friend of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and was sanctioned along with multiple oligarchs in 2022.

The sanctions impose export controls and license requirements to protect US national security and foreign policy interests.

Since February 2022, when the export controls that prevent US-built planes re-entry into Russia went into effect, the Boeing 737 has left and reentered the country at least seven time.

The Boeing jet was last in the United States in March 2014, and is currently believed to be in, or traveling to or from, Russia.

“Today’s enforcement action demonstrates there is a price to pay for Russian companies and oligarchs that flagrantly evade sanctions that the United States has imposed in response to the unjustified war against the people of the Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.