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HONG KONG IWSC FINED FOR ACCEPTING ENTRIES FROM A SANCTIONED CRIMEAN WINERY

By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET

14-10-2022



Source: HKIWSC

The Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition (HKIWSC) Ltd, which is registered in the UK, was fined £30,000 (USD33,700) by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) for accepting wine entries from a Crimean winery that is being sanctioned by the UK.

The OFSI said in a statement published on Tuesday that a Crimean winery known as Massandra, a designated entity under UK sanctions, had submitted a total of 78 bottles and three payments of entrance fees totalling £3,919 between 2017 to 2020 to HKIWSC.

The Massandra winery was named in the 2014 UK and European Union sanction regulations after it was confiscated by the Russian authorities subsequent to the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The OFSI received a suspected breach report from a third party in December 2020, it found after investigations that HKIWSC have committed five breaches against the 2014 sanction regulations in their dealings with Massandra between 2017 and 2020.

Four breaches were related to the receipt of funds and wine bottles, that are tangible economic resources, sent by Massandra to the HKIWSC.

A further breach was related to publicity, an intangible economic resources, the HKIWSC made available to Massandra in connection with its participation in the annual competition.

“This case concerned the wine industry, which underlines how financial sanctions apply across all sectors,” the OFSI said in the statement.

The OFSI also highlighted that companies should “consider their global exposure to high-risk jurisdictions and take steps to mitigate against dealing with designated persons and entities.”

As sister competition of the London-based IWSC, the HKIWSC is also part of the Conversion Group which is a portfolio of lifestyle businesses.

The competition is sponsored by Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and is often marketed as Cathay Pacific HKIWSC.

(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)

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