(Finance) – The Treasury Department and the State Department of the United States have imposed sanctions on nearly 400 individuals and entities both inside Russia and outside its bordersincluding Asia, Europe and the Middle East, whose products and services enable Russia to support its war effort and evade sanctions.
“Russia has turned its economy into a tool for the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex. Treasury’s actions today continue to implement commitments made by President Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt the supply chains and payment channels of Russia’s military-industrial base,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “Companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world must make sure not to support Russia’s military-industrial supply chains“.
The Treasury is taking aim numerous transnational networksincluding those involved in procuring munitions and military hardware for Russia, facilitating sanctions evasion for Russian oligarchs through offshore corporate formation and trust services, circumventing sanctions on Russian cyber actors, laundering gold for a sanctioned Russian gold company, and supporting Russia’s military-industrial base through the procurement of sensitive and critical items such as advanced machine tools and electronic components, the statement said. Today’s sanctions further limit Russia’s future revenues from metals and mining. The Treasury is also targeting Russian financial technology companies that provide software and IT solutions needed by Russia’s financial sector.
The Treasury is aware of Russian efforts to facilitate the evasion of sanctions by opening new branches and subsidiaries abroad of Russian financial institutions. Foreign regulators and financial institutions “should be cautious about any dealings with foreign branches or subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions, including attempts to open new branches or subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions that are not themselves sanctioned,” it stressed.
The State Department is instead targeting entities and individuals involved in the production and export of energy, metals and minerals of Russia; sanctions evasion; Russia’s military-industrial base, including the production of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Belarusian support for Russia’s war effort, and air logistics entities; additional subsidiaries of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom; and malign actors involved in the attempted forced “re-education” of Ukrainian children.
Going into detail, the Treasury is targeting more than 60 Russian technology and defense companies that are critical to the sustenance and development of the Russian defense industry, including entities involved in the development and modernization of weapons, automation and robotics, the development and acquisition of dual-use electronics, digital surveillance, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence.
Among the subjects cited by the US Treasury there is the Italian citizen Julius Sfogliettiinvolved in a procurement network involving a Turkish facilitator to purchase over $150 million worth of military equipment, ammunition and munitions for the Russian military from potential suppliers in Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Iran.
Furthermore, the machine tool manufacturer is mentioned Fagima Milling Machinesbased in Italy, which worked closely with Russian procurement agent Dmitrii Vladimirovich Alikhanov to facilitate the shipment of Fagima-produced machines via various third-country intermediary companies to Russian defense end users. Fagima’s owner and CEO Max Falchini and the marketing manager of Fagima Fulvio Salvadorithe U.S. Treasury writes, helped fulfill orders for Alikhanov’s network and evade sanctions, even after Alikhanov was designated a Russian agent in June 2024.