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‘Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex,’ says deputy secretary.
The US Treasury Department and the State Department targeted Friday nearly 400 individuals and entities both in Russia and outside its borders whose products and services enable Moscow to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions.
The Treasury Department said individuals and entities locations include Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
The targeted transnational networks include those involved in procuring ammunition and military materiel for Russia, facilitating sanctions evasion for Russian oligarchs through offshore trust and corporate formation services, evading sanctions imposed on Russia’s cyber actors, laundering gold for a sanctioned Russian gold company, and supporting Russia’s military-industrial base by procuring sensitive and critical items such as advanced machine tools and electronic components.
“Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex,” said Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “Companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world need to ensure they are not supporting Russia’s military-industrial supply chains.”
The Treasury Department noted that there are Russian efforts to facilitate sanctions evasion by opening new overseas branches and subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions.
It warned that foreign regulators and financial institutions should be cautious about any dealings with overseas branches or subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions, including those that are not sanctioned by the US.
The Treasury Department said it has a range of tools available to respond to the establishment of new evasion channels.