The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on dozens of people and entities, including a Russian commercial bank and a virtual currency mining company, hoping to target Moscow's evasion of existing sanctions.
NSE
The US Treasury Department said it designated a virtual currency mining company for the first time, alongside more than 40 people and entities led by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.
“Treasury can and will target those who evade, attempt to evade, or aid the evasion of US sanctions against Russia, as they are helping support Putin’s brutal war of choice,” Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wednesday's move targets Russia's virtual currency mining industry, reportedly the third-largest in the world, sanctioning the holding company of Moscow-based bitcoin miner BitRiver, which operates a data center in Siberia, and 10 of the holding company's Russia-based subsidiaries.
The Treasury also put sanctions on Russian commercial bank Transkapitalbank, whose representatives it said serve several banks in Asia, including in China, and the Middle East, and have suggested options to evade international sanctions. Its subsidiary, Investtradebank, was also designated.
Wednesday's action freezes any US assets of those designated and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. But Washington issued two general licenses related to Transkapitalbank alongside the sanctions, authorising the wind-down of dealings with the bank until May 20 and certain transactions destined for or originating from Afghanistan until October 20 "in support of efforts to address the humanitarian crisis."
The US also imposed additional sanctions on Russian oligarch Malofeyev, whom US authorities have long accused of being one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea. He was first designated under the Obama administration in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. Earlier this month, the US Justice Department charged Malofeyev with violating sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
"The United States will work to ensure that the sanctions we have imposed, in close coordination with our international partners, degrade the Kremlin’s ability to project power and fund its invasion," Nelson said.