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Sanctions against Russia are extensive and unprecedently strict. New sets of sanctions may be decided without any prior notice. Since the outbreak of the Russian aggression in February 2022, the sanctions have been tightened and expanded progressively. It may be a long time before any relaxation of the current sanctions regime against Russia will be seen.

Since early March 2022, Aalto University has refrained from all cooperation with Russian and Belarusian partner organisations in higher education and science. We have not initiated any new projects, and existing cooperation between organisations has been suspended.  Our strong recommendation is that all members of the community respect the university’s commitment even in areas where principle of academic freedom applies and thus our faculty refrain from research collaboration with researchers with an affiliation to Russian and Belarus institutions.

The coverage and reach of the EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus is so extensive that our conclusion is that it is very difficult to conduct academic cooperation under the principles of academic freedom with any persons affiliated with Russian or Belarusian universities or other institutions, or otherwise residing in Russia or Belarus. For further information please see the materials below. Academic freedom does not justify breach of sanction regulations or non-compliance with the university’s rules or policies (e.g. that working remotely for or in Russia or Belarus is not possible or exporting any Aalto University’s equipment (even a laptop or a phone), data or other materials to Russia or Belarus is forbidden).

The presentations below will give you a brief explanation on the current sanctions regime against Russia. The presentations prepared in Aalto discuss sanctions decided by the European Union. There is also a presentation prepared for the Finnish universities by an outside expert knowledgeable on sanctions. The presentation prepared by an outside expert will give you, in particular, extra information on US regulation that is applicable 91ÇàÇà²Ý in parallel with the EU regulation.

EDIT: EU has adopted "maintenance and alignment" package on 21 July 2022. Please find below link to the press release issued by the Council of the EU.

 (press release from the Council of the EU on 21 July 2022)

EDIT2: EU has adopted the 8th sanctions package on 6 October 2022. Please find presentation elsewhere on this webpage concerning such parts of the package that are considered most relevant 91ÇàÇà²Ý. Please also find below link to the press release issued by the Council of the EU.

 (press release from the Council of the EU on 6 October 2022)

EDIT3: EU has adopted the 9th sanctions package on 16 December 2022. Please find below more information on the 9^th sanction package at the websites of the EU Council and EU Commission.

 (Press release issued by the Council of the EU on 16 December 2022) 

 (Information on the 9th sanctions package given by the EU Commission)

 (Information on the 9th sanctions package given by the EU Commission)

EDIT 4: EU has adopted the 11th sanctions package on 23 June 2023. Please find below more information on the 11th sanctions package at the websites of the EU Council and EU Commission.

(Press release issued by the Council of the European Union on 23 June 2023)

(Information on the 11th sanction package given by the EU Commission)

EDIT 5: EU has adopted the 12th sanctions package on 18 December 2023. Please find more information on the 12th sanctions package at the websites of the EU Council and EU Commission.

(Press release issued by the Council of the European Union on 18 December 2023)

(Press release issued by the EU Commission on 18 December 2023)

Point of contact

In sanction matters related to your school or department you should contact the designated lawyer or the designated technology manager.

For general inquiries on sanction matters please contact 

Sampo Kukkonen | Aalto-yliopisto

More information:

EU – General Information on Sanctions against Russia

EU - Overview on Sanctions against Russia and Frequently Asked Questions on Sanctions

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland – Information on Sanctions against Russia

EU – Legislative Instruments for Technology related Restrictions against Russia

(Consolidated Council Regulation 833/2014, dated 1 October 2023) (NOTE: this document includes all text for the regulation 833/2014 in all sanctions packages up to and including the 11th sanctions package adopted on 23 June 2023)

For all Annexes of the Consolidated Council Regulation please see the above document. Please note that new sanctions packages that may be adopted after the date mentioned above are not included in the above file.

Legislative acts of the 12th sanctions package can be accessed in the Official Journal of the European Union through the below link

EU - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Concerning Sanctions Adopted Following Russia's Military Aggression against Ukraine and Belarus' Involvement in It

EU Dual-Use Items

(Regulation (EU) 2021/821 – EU Regulation for Dual-Use Items)

(updated Annex I of EU dual-use regulation)

Support organization for export control and sanctions matters at Aalto University

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