The result of a prosecution of a company's CEO has been reported in the Finnish press.
The company received an order from a Russian customer for non-prohibited goods. The products then became sanctioned leading to a dispute as to whether the contract should be performed. The Russian customer threatened to bring a claim if there was no delivery.
The Finnish company's CEO decided the best path was to go through some of the motions of an export, which would then be blocked, and this would be proof that delivery could not be made.
The company applied for an export licence for the goods (motor switches), and it was at this point that the flaw in the plan became apparent.
Customs considered that the company was seeking to export sanctioned goods and investigated and charged the CEO with the appropriate sanctions breaches.
Luckily for the CEO the District Court of South Karelia this week has acquitted the CEO. The court relied on the fact that the company had taken no steps to move the goods from its warehouse, and the court found that there was no real intention to actually export.
I am very grateful to Aleksi Pursiainen, of Solid Plan Consulting, for drawing this case to my attention.
If ever there was a cautionary tale on the drastic consequences that can come from not having appropriate sanctions wording in your contracts, this is it.
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