Washington, D.C. (December 13, 2023) - On November 2, 2023, The United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) blocking sanctions on more than 100 Russian and third-country entities and individuals, including Russian energy, metals, technology, and financial sector entities, as well as persons in multiple countries involved in the supply of dual-use and other controlled items to Russia. The new sanctions aim to further weaken Russia's military and industrial capabilities in connection with its pursuit of the war in Ukraine.

Additionally, OFAC also sanctioned numerous Russian government officials in the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Digital Development, Energy and Economy, and announced a three-month extension of its General License 13 (now GL 13G) to allow U.S. companies to continue to conduct certain financial and other transactions with the Russian government that are ordinarily incident and necessary to maintaining their day-to-day operations in Russia. Finally, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) expanded its Entities List, adding 12 Russian and one Uzbek entity to its list of persons to whom exports are prohibited.

Entities Subject to Blocking Sanctions

These newly imposed sanctions include well-known entities such as the Russian conglomerate Sistema, the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, Bauman University, and many other energy, financial, electronics, industrials and metals and mining entities.

The U.S. government's actions aim to disrupt global supply networks beyond Russia's borders that are providing "critical components" and dual-use items to Russia. Third-country targets include individuals and entities in China, the UAE, Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cyprus, Switzerland, and Mongolia. The United States has also determined that these above-named entities support Russia's military through the procurement, development, and proliferation of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Key entities subjected to these new sanctions include:

Russian Industry, Future Energy Capacity & Financial Sector

  • LLC Arctic LNG 2, the operator of the Arctic LNG 2 project for the private (and previously sanctioned) Russian company Novatek.
  • PJSC St. Petersburg Exchange (SPBX).
  • JSC Russian Titanium Resources (Rustitan) – a Russian company developing the world-largest titanium ore deposit located in Russia – and the Cyprus-based Russian Titanium Resources Limited.
  • Sistema PJS Financial Corporation – a Russian technology, defense, and financial conglomerate – and its subsidiaries, including East-West United Bank SA (Switzerland) and Sistema Asia PTE LTD (Singapore).
  • The well-known technical institute Bauman University (or Moscow State Technical University, named after N.E. Bauman).
  • Cyprus-based Russian Titanium Resources Limited.
  • Seven Russian commercial banks including Absolut Bank; Home Credit & Finance Bank; Post Bank; Russian Regional Development Bank; and Russian Standard Bank.
  • 65 Russian companies that produce, import, or distribute industrial machinery, machine tools, spare parts, ball bearings, and other industrial equipment, materials, or technologies. The list includes Gazpromneft Science and Technology Center, which develops technologies for the oil and gas sector.

Russian Defense Procurement Networks & Sanctions Evasion

  • Nine Turkish companies supplying dial-use electronics, machine tools, and other sensitive items to Russia as well as Turkish national Berk Turken, for arranging the supply of sensitive technology to sanctioned Russian entities.
  • Three China-based and 11 UAE-based companies supplying electronics, satellite and radar equipment, U.S.-origin aircraft components, and other restricted items to Russia. Three financial firms based in the UAE, Oman, Cyprus, which handle illicit Russian assets and several related Russian, Cypriot, Irish, and Latvian citizens.
  • Switzerland-based Advanced Industrial Technologies GmbH, working with Russian end-users to procure dual-use equipment from U.S., European, and Asian suppliers.
  • Two Russian companies receiving high-priority electronic components from the sanctioned UAE-based companies Dream Lite and Bliksem Computers & Requisites Trading Company LLC.
  • The Russian company ZALA AERO LLC, which supplies drones for the Russian military and 23 companies supplying components or materials to ZALA or controlled by ZALA's sanctioned owner Aleksandr Zakharov's sanctioned family members.
  • The Russia-based reseller of microelectronics and tech components Baltelectron LLC and five related companies, including the Hong Kong-based Neway Technologies Limited.
  • Eight companies operating in Russia's electronics sector, including Fregat OOO – one of Russia's top suppliers of electronic components and equipment whose clients and partners include multiple U.S.-sanctioned Russian companies such as Rostec.
  • The Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman.

Russian Officials & Trotsenko Family

  • Aleksey Besprozvannykh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade
  • Viktor Evtukhov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade
    Anastasiya Bondarenko, Deputy Minister of Energy
  • Oleg Kachanov, Deputy Minister of Digital Development
  • Dmitry Oguryaev, Deputy Minister of Digital Development
  • Former Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya Yakub Zakriev, who was appointed the CEO of Danone Russia after President Putin had transferred the company to "temporary management" by the government. Zakriev is a nephew of previously sanctioned head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and a son of Salman Zakriev, First Deputy Charman of the Parliament of Chechnya, who was also sanctioned.
  • Family members of previously sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Trotsenko and companies they control including AEON Corporation and its multiple subsidiaries operating in the financial, transport, real estate, and other sectors.

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