Ethiopia emergency expires; OFAC removes Ethiopia-related SDNs, issues Russia GL 131J

What's on the official record

18 September — Ethiopia national emergency under E.O. 14046 expires. The OFAC recent-actions page (https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20260918) records that the national emergency declared in Executive Order (E.O.) 14046 of September 17, 2021, "Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons With Respect to the Humanitarian and Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia," has expired.

18 September — Ethiopia-related SDN removals under the ETHIOPIA-EO14046 program. Following the expiration of the national emergency declared in E.O. 14046, OFAC removed from the SDN List the persons designated pursuant to E.O. 14046 whose property had been blocked, and removed the Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to this program from its website. The deleted SDN entries carry the [ETHIOPIA-EO14046] program tag:

PEOPLE'S FRONT FOR DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE, Eritrea; organization established 1993; organization type: activities of political organizations.
W KIDAN, Hagos Ghebrehiwet (a.k.a. WELDEKIDANE, Hagos Ghebrehiwet; a.k.a. WOLDEKIDAN, Hagos Ghebrehiwet), Asmara, Eritrea; DOB 25 Apr 1953; POB Senafe, Eritrea; nationality Eritrea; National ID No. 0882109 (Eritrea); also listed as WOLDEKIDAN, Hagos Ghebrehiwet and WELDEKIDANE, Hagos Ghebrehiwet.
NEMARIAM, Abraha Kassa (a.k.a. KASSA, Abraha; a.k.a. KASSA, Wedi), Eritrea; DOB 15 Jul 1953; POB Eritrea; nationality Eritrea; Passport D000294 (Eritrea); also listed as KASSA, Wedi and KASSA, Abraha.
ERITREAN DEFENSE FORCES (a.k.a. ERITREAN DEFENSE FORCE), Eritrea; organization established 1993; target type government entity; also listed as ERITREAN DEFENSE FORCE.
RED SEA TRADING CORPORATION, Felket Street, Asmara, Eritrea; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; organization established 1984.
HIDRI TRUST, Felket Street, Asmara, Eritrea; organization established 1994.

18 September — Russia-related General License 131J and amended FAQs 1224 and 1225. OFAC issued Russia-related General License 131J, "Authorizing Certain Transactions for the Negotiation of and Entry Into Contingent Contracts for the Sale of Lukoil International GmbH and Related Maintenance Activities," and issued two amended Russia-related FAQs. The page cites no Executive Order for this action. The amended FAQs are 1224 and 1225 (/faqs/1224 and /faqs/1225). Unrelated administrative list changes: none.

Assessment

For a sanctions or trade-finance committee, the record shows the Ethiopian national emergency under E.O. 14046 has expired and the [ETHIOPIA-EO14046] SDN listings have been deleted. The committee can rescreen its accounts and transactions against the removed designees to confirm the deletion is reflected in the live SDN List, and can treat the named persons and entities as no longer blocked under that program. It can also review whether Russia-related activity falls within General License 131J's contingent-contract authorization for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH and the amended FAQs 1224 and 1225.

For an owner or operating executive, the record names the Ethiopian designees OFAC removed and the Russia-related general license it issued. The executive can verify whether any removed name appears in counterparty or customer records the business must reconcile with the current SDN List. It can also confirm whether a planned sale of Lukoil International GmbH fits the contingent-contract authorization in General License 131J and amended FAQs 1224 and 1225.

What would change this call

A new OFAC record designating any of the removed Ethiopian persons or entities, or amending General License 131J or FAQs 1224 and 1225, would change what the record lets these readers check.

What to check next

Check	Where to look
Whether the six removed [ETHIOPIA-EO14046] designees are absent from the live SDN List	OFAC SDN List and Sanctions List Search
The full text and scope of Russia-related General License 131J	OFAC general licenses collection for GL 131J
The amended FAQ language	FAQ 1224 and FAQ 1225 (/faqs/1224, /faqs/1225)

Confidence

Filed 25 October 2026 from the record dated 18 September 2026. The facts are drawn only from the OFAC recent-actions page for 18 September 2026; this note reports what OFAC removed and licensed and states no determination of its own.

Sources

[1] OFAC Recent Actions, "Expiration of Emergency With Respect to the Situation in Ethiopia; Ethiopia-related Designations Removals; Issuance of Amended Russia-related General License and Associated Frequently Asked Questions", 18 September 2026, https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20260918