The United States announced this Friday the largest number of sanctions imposed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They affect more than 500 companies and individuals, not only do they include Russian entities but the penalties also cover around twenty foreign companies that help Russia avoid fines. The main objective is to undermine the financial infrastructure of Vladimir Putin’s Government and retaliate for the death of the opponent Alexei Navalny, which coincides with the second anniversary of the start of the war.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) explained that the sanctions seek to target Russia’s central financial infrastructure and that for this purpose the operator of the National Payment System Mir is being sanctioned. as well as Russian banks, investment firms and financial technology companies.
Among those sanctioned is the National Payment Card System Joint Stock Company (NSPK), which is the state operator of Russia’s Mir National Payment System, an entity owned by the Central Bank of Russia that “plays a key role in facilitating both internal and external financial transactions of Russia.” To “deny Russia the resources necessary to support its brutal war against Ukraine,” the Treasury notes, the sanctions include more than two dozen third-country sanctions evaders in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, from countries such as China, Serbia, Germany or Liechtenstein.
“These companies have the option of doing business with Russia’s military industry complex or with countries that represent more than 50% of the world economy,” he said today from New York in a speech prepared by Treasury Undersecretary Wally Adeyemo. OFAC, he warned, will continue to impose sanctions on people “wherever they are located, who allow Russia to reconnect to global financial markets using illicit channels.”
In addition to finance, there are companies from other sectors ranging from logistics, technology, defense or even diamond exports. These include companies that facilitate, organize, participate in and otherwise support the transfer of critical technology and equipment to Russia’s military-industrial base. “The Treasury’s actions, along with those of its partners around the world, are restricting Russia’s ability to generate the revenue it needs to finance its war and disrupting the Kremlin’s efforts to build a wartime economy,” it notes. the notice.
Additionally, the State Department is also taking steps to impose visa restrictions on alleged Russian-installed authorities involved in the transfer, deportation and confinement of children from Ukraine. Over the past two years, the Treasury and State Departments have designated more than 4,000 entities and individuals under Russia-related sanctions authorities. Washington’s sanctions will come after the European Union (EU) this week reached a political agreement to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia, the 13th since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which will be formally approved in the second anniversary of that conflict.
