Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the scope of Singapore's sanctions on Russia, 9 May 2022

QUESTION

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what is the full scope of the economic sanctions imposed by Singapore on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

REPLY

Singapore is a consistent and staunch supporter of international law and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. The sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of all countries, big and small, must be respected. Singapore takes any violation of these core principles seriously, as they are fundamental to the survival of Singapore, a small state.

2 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contravenes the UN Charter and is a clear and gross violation of international law. We cannot accept the Russian government’s violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another sovereign state. For a small state like Singapore, this is not a theoretical principle, but a dangerous precedent. This is why Singapore has strongly condemned Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

3 Since the UNSC resolution to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine failed to pass due to Russia’s veto, and given the unprecedented gravity of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Singapore decided that we will impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia. Many other countries around the world have joined in the international sanctions.

4 As announced on 5 March 2022, our sanctions and restrictions aim to constrain Russia’s capacity to conduct war against Ukraine and undermine its sovereignty. We have imposed export controls on items that can be directly used as weapons to inflict harm on or to subjugate the Ukrainians, as well as items that can contribute to offensive cyber operations. In particular, this includes a ban on the transfer to Russia of all items in the Military Goods List, and all items in the “Electronics”, “Computers”, and “Telecommunications and Information Security” categories of the Dual-Use Goods List in the Strategic Goods (Control) Order 2021.

5 In addition, we have imposed financial measures targeted at designated Russian banks and activities in Russia, and fundraising activities benefitting the Russian government. These measures apply to all financial institutions in Singapore, including banks, finance companies, insurers, capital markets intermediaries, securities exchanges and payment service providers. Specifically, financial institutions in Singapore are prohibited from:

• Dealing with designated Russian banks and are required to freeze their assets;
• Entering into financial transactions or providing financial assistance or services in relation to the export from, transhipment in or transit through, Singapore or any other jurisdiction of goods subject to Singapore’s export controls on Russia;
• Entering into financial transactions or providing financial assistance or services in relation to the raising of new funds by the Russian government, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, or any legal person or legal arrangement owned or controlled by them or acting on their behalf or under their direction;
• Entering into financial transactions or providing financial assistance or services in relation to specific sectors in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk; and
• Entering into or facilitating any digital payment token transactions which may be used to circumvent any of the above prohibitions.

6 The full scope of the sanctions imposed by Singapore on Russia is set out in MFA’s Press Statement of 5 March 2022 and the enclosed factsheets, as well as MAS Notices SNR-N01 and SNR-N02, issued by MAS to all financial institutions in Singapore on 14 March 2022, which have been published on MAS’ website.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

9 MAY 2022