Local Finance Notice 2022-24 Prohibition on Dealings with Russia or Belarus-associated Businesses; Update to Iran Investment Certification
- P.L. 2022, c. 3, signed into law on March 9, 2022, requires the State Department of the Treasury to develop a list of persons and entities engaging in prohibited activities in Russia or Belarus. The list is now available on Treasury’s website.
- The phrase “engaging in prohibited activities in Russia or Belarus” Is defined as
- Companies with direct equity shares in the Governments of Russia or Belarus, headquartered in Russia or Belarus, and supporting the Governments of Russia or Belarus in their campaigns to invade Ukraine.
Impact of Procurement; Investment Prohibitions
- Persons or entities included on Treasury’s Russia-Belarus list cannot enter into or renew a contract with a State agency, State college or university, or a local public contracting unit.
- Before any contract greater than $1,000 is awarded, renewed, amended, or extended, a contracting unit shall require a vendor or contractor to certify that the vendor or contractor is not identified on Treasury’s Russia-Belarus list.
- While persons or entities on the Russia-Belarus list cannot file or renew a Public Works Contractor Registration (PWCR) with the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development, a contracting unit is not required to reference the Russia-Belarus list or require a certification prior to awarding a construction contract.
- A vendor or contractor must provide a certification that it has not engaged in prohibited activity in Russia or Belarus, or provide a detailed and precise description of such activities, under penalty of perjury, before the contract can be entered into.
- The law states that a contracting unit shall rely on the Russia-Belarus list, but that if the contracting unit becomes aware of credible, publicly available information indicating a certification may be false, it must terminate the contract and report the false certification to the Attorney General.
- P.L. 2022, c. 3, prohibits local contracting units, boards of education, and county colleges from banking with, holding stock in, or maintaining insurance coverage through a financial institution that appears on the Russia-Belarus list.
Local Finance Notice 2022-24
Please follow the link below to read more about these items and guidance on how your local unit can implement them: https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dlgs/lfns/22/2022-24.pdf
Contact Wielkotz & Company, LLC Today
For further information on Local Finance Notice 2022-24 and its implementation feel free to reach out to Steven Wielkotz at (973)-835-7900 ext. 201 or sdw@w-cpa.com.