US rolls out new anti-Russia sanctions

The restrictions target the country’s financial sector, officials, and businessmen, according to the Treasury Department

The US Treasury announced on Thursday that it was adding 18 entities related to the Russian financial services sector to its so-called Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List).

The updated list includes Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin, persons associated with him, as well as his holding Interros and Rosbank. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also blacklisted Russia’s second-largest lender VTB Bank and a number of related companies.

Sanctions were also imposed on Russian governors, their relatives, members of the board of directors of Russian Railways, and the authorities in new regions of the Russian Federation. The governors of Moscow Region, as well as Voronezh and Kursk regions, were also targeted.

According to the statement, the “Treasury has taken unprecedented action to isolate Russia from the global financial system, with severe short- and long-term effects on its economy.”

“By sanctioning additional major Russian banks, we continue to deepen Russia’s isolation from global markets,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

The Treasury indicated that all property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons have been blocked and should be reported to OFAC.

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