US Treasury Department building seen in Washington, DC, September 29, 2008. REUTERS / Jim Bourg / File Photo
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WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on dozens of people and businesses, including a Russian commercial bank and a virtual currency company, hoping to avoid Moscow’s avoidance of existing sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
The US Treasury Department said it had appointed a virtual currency company for the first time, along with more than 40 people and organizations led by US-appointed Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.
“The Treasury Department can and will target those who are avoiding, trying to evade or helping to evade US sanctions against Russia, as they are helping to support Putin’s brutally elected war,” he said. terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson in a statement.
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The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The United States and its allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow since its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, including against the country’s largest creditors and Putin himself.
Wednesday’s move targets Russia’s virtual currency industry, reportedly the world’s third-largest, by sanctioning the holding company of Moscow-based bitcoin miner BitRiver, which runs a data center in Siberia, and 10 Russian-based subsidiaries. of the holding.
The finance ministry has also imposed sanctions on Russia’s commercial bank Transkapitalbank, which it says serves several banks in Asia, including China and the Middle East, and suggested options to avoid international sanctions.
Its subsidiary Investtradebank has also been identified.
Wednesday’s action froze all U.S. assets to those identified and generally barred Americans from working with them.
But Washington has issued two general licenses to Transkapitalbank along with sanctions, allowing the bank’s dealings to be suspended until May 20 and some transactions destined for or originating in Afghanistan by October 20 “in support of efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis.”
The United States has imposed additional sanctions on Russian oligarch Malofeev, who has long been accused by US authorities of being one of the main sources of funding for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea. He was first appointed to the Obama administration in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice accused Malofeev of violating sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Read more
“The United States will work to ensure that the sanctions we impose, in close coordination with our international partners, will impair the Kremlin’s ability to project power and fund its invasion,” Nelson said.
The U.S. State Department is also imposing visa restrictions on more than 600 people in a bid to promote accountability for human rights abuses and violations, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement banning them from traveling to the United States.
Three Russian officials were also affected by visa restrictions for “gross human rights violations”, as well as 17 others imposed on restrictions on allegations of undermining democracy in Belarus.
“We will use any instrument to promote accountability for human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine,” Blinken said.
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Report by Daphne Psaledakis, Chris Gallagher, Doina Chiaku, David Brunstrom, Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper; Editing and Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell
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