Canada, one of the harshest critics of Russia's involvement in Ukraine, this week quietly cancelled sanctions against Expobank and RosEnergoBank, two small Russian banks on which it imposed the measures earlier this year. The cancellations were put into effect at the same time as new sanctions were announced by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Tuesday, including adding Russia's Sberbank to the list, but his news release made no mention of lifting the measures against Expobank and RosEnergoBank.
Expobank, which ranks as about the 100th biggest Russian bank by assets, has always disputed its inclusion on the sanctions list and had appealed to be taken off.