CHAPTER VIII

FREEZING OF FUNDS AND ECONOMIC RESSOURCES
Article 28
1
All funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned, held or controlled by persons responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, persons and entities benefiting from or supporting the regime, and persons and entities associated with them, as listed in Annexes I and II, shall be frozen.
2
In accordance with the assessments and determinations made by the Council in the context of the situation in Syria as set out in recitals 5 to 11, all funds and economic resources belonging to, or owned, held or controlled by:
a
leading businesspersons operating in Syria;
b
members of the Assad or Makhlouf families;
c
Syrian Government Ministers in power after May 2011;
d
members of the Syrian Armed Forces of the rank of
‘
colonel
’
and the equivalent or higher in post after May 2011;
e
members of the Syrian security and intelligence services in post after May 2011;
f
members of regime-affiliated militias; or
g
members of entities, units, agencies, bodies or institutions operating in the chemical weapons proliferation sector,
and persons and entities associated with them, as listed in Annex I, shall be frozen.
3
Persons, entities or bodies within one of the categories referred to in paragraph 2 shall not be included or retained on the list of persons and entities in Annex I if there is sufficient information that they are not, or are no longer, associated with the regime or do not exercise influence over it or do not pose a real risk of circumvention.
4
All listing decisions shall be made on an individual and case-by-case basis taking into account the proportionality of the measure.
5
No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of, the natural or legal persons or entities listed in Annexes I and II.
6
The competent authority of a Member State may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as it deems appropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources concerned are:
a
necessary to satisfy the basic needs of the persons listed in Annexes I and II and their dependent family members, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;
b
intended exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and the reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services;
c
intended exclusively for the payment of fees or service charges for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources; or
d
necessary for extraordinary expenses, provided that the competent authority has notified the competent authorities of the other Member States and the Commission of the grounds on which it considers that a specific authorisation should be granted, at least two weeks prior to the authorisation;
(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
f
to be paid into or from an account of a diplomatic or consular mission or an international organisation enjoying immunities in accordance with international law, in so far as such payments are intended to be used for official purposes of the diplomatic or consular mission or international organisation;
g
necessary for evacuations from Syria;
h
intended for the Central Bank of Syria or Syrian State-owned entities, as listed in Annexes I and II, to make payments on behalf of the Syrian Arab Republic to the OPCW for activities related to the OPCW verification mission and the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, and in particular to the OPCW Syrian Special Trust Fund for activities related to the complete destruction of Syrian chemical weapons outside the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.
A Member State shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation it grants under this paragraph.
7
By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authorities of a Member State, may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, provided that the following conditions are met:
a
the funds or economic resources are subject of an arbitral decision rendered prior to the date on which the person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 was listed in Annex I or II or of a judicial or
administrative decision rendered in the Union, or a judicial decision enforceable in the Member State concerned, prior to or after that date;
b
the funds or economic resources will be used exclusively to satisfy claims secured by such a decision or recognised as valid in such a decision, within the limits set by applicable laws and regulations governing the rights of persons having such claims;
c
the decision is not for the benefit of a person or entity listed in Annex I or II; and
d
recognising the decision is not contrary to public policy in the Member State concerned.
A Member State shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under this paragraph.
8
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not prevent a designated person or entity from making a payment due under a contract entered into before the listing of such a person or entity, provided that the relevant Member State has determined that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.
9
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not prevent a designated entity listed in Annex II, for a period of two months after the date of its designation, from making a payment from frozen funds or economic resources received by such entity after the date of its designation, where such payment is due under a contract in connection with the financing of trade, provided that the relevant Member State has determined that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.
10
Paragraph 5 shall not apply to the addition to frozen accounts of:
a
interest or other earnings on those accounts; or
b
payments due under contracts, agreements or obligations that were concluded or arose prior to the date on which those accounts became subject to this Decision,
provided that any such interest, other earnings and payments remain subject to paragraphs 1 and 2.
11
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 shall not apply to a transfer by or through the Central Bank of Syria of funds or economic resources received and frozen after the date of its designation or to a transfer of funds or economic resources to or through the Central Bank of Syria after the date of its designation where such transfer is related to a payment by a non-designated financial institution due in connection with a specific trade contract, provided that the relevant Member State has determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.
12
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to a transfer by or through the Central Bank of Syria of frozen funds or economic resources where such transfer is for the purpose of providing financial institutions under the jurisdiction of Member States with liquidity for the financing of trade, provided that the transfer has been authorised by the relevant Member State.
13
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 shall not apply to a transfer, by or through a financial entity listed in Annex I or II, of frozen funds or economic resources where the transfer is related to a payment by a person or entity not listed in Annex I or II in connection with the provision of financial support to Syrian nationals pursuing an education, professional training or engaged in academic research in the Union, provided that the relevant Member State has determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.
14
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 shall not apply to acts or transactions carried out, with regard to Syrian Arab Airlines, for the sole purpose of evacuating citizens of the Union and their family members from Syria.
15
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 shall not apply to the transfer by or through the Commercial Bank of Syria of funds or economic resources received from outside the Union and frozen after the date of its designation or to a transfer of funds or economic resources to or through the Commercial Bank of Syria received from outside the Union after the date of its designation where such transfer is related to a payment by a non-designated financial institution due in connection with a specific trade contract for medical supplies, food, shelter, sanitation or hygiene for civilian use, provided that the relevant Member State has determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.
Substituted by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1836 of 12 October 2015 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria.
Substituted by Corrigendum to Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1836 of 12 October 2015 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (Official Journal of the European Union L 266 of 13 October 2015).
Deleted by Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/2144 of 6 December 2016 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria.