The US Treasury Department said Wednesday that it has expanded its wide range of sanctions to include companies and individuals helping Russia avoid the impact of economic sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Finance Ministry officials say the department is now targeting Russia’s commercial bank Transcapitalbank, as well as a network of more than 40 people, including oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, who believes it is helping the Kremlin overcome a wave of economic sanctions.
The Biden administration also said it was cracking down on companies working in Russia’s virtual currency industry, including Bitriver, to help the country monetize its exports and other natural resources.
“The Treasury can and will target those who avoid, try to avoid or help evade US sanctions against Russia, as they help support Putin’s brutal war of choice,” the deputy secretary of terrorism and finance said. intelligence Brian Nelson in a press release. .
“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,” he added.
As a Russian private bank, Transkapitalbank has offered to help Moscow avoid disclosure and sanctions restrictions through its own Internet-based banking system known as TKB Business, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry announcing the penalties.
This system, Finance Ministry officials said, is an alternative communication channel to the Society’s network for global interbank financial telecommunications or SWIFT. It is also designed to process US dollar payments for sanctioned customers.
Earlier this year, the United States, the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom cut off a handful of Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network, one of Washington’s most powerful moves to isolate Russia from the global market and cripple its economy.
This move effectively prevented Russia from communicating securely with banks outside its borders.
The finance ministry also said it was stepping up efforts to eliminate a global network of “sanctions evasion and malicious influence” led by Russian oligarch Malofeev.
Malofeev was first targeted by the United States in 2014 for his role in activities that “threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine.” At the time, the Foreign Assets Control Service noted that Malofeev was one of the main sources of funding for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea.
“In recent years,” the finance ministry said on Wednesday, “Malofeev, secretly or through intermediaries, has supported pro-Russian activities that undermine democracy, interfere in elections and worsen security and stability in many countries.”
The announcement also marks the Biden administration’s first attempt to crack down on Russia’s virtual currency industry.
Among the companies subject to US sanctions is Bitriver, a company founded in 2017 that operates its hydroelectric mining facilities.
The Foreign Assets Control Service named 10 Russian-based subsidiaries of Bitriver in its latest wave of sanctions.
“Russia has a comparative advantage in the extraction of cryptocurrencies due to energy resources and the cold climate,” Finance Ministry officials said on Wednesday. “However, mining companies rely on imported computer equipment and fiat payments, making them vulnerable to sanctions.”
“The United States is committed to ensuring that no asset, no matter how complex, becomes a mechanism for the Putin regime to offset the impact of sanctions,” they added.
– Mackenzie Sigalos of CNBC contributed to this report.
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