Cypriots among sanctioned by UK and US for "knowingly assisting" Russian oligarchs

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has released a list of individuals and entities - including nine Cypriot - who will be sanctioned for "knowingly assisting Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in complex financial networks".

It came as the UK also announced new sanctions targeting those who, it said, knowingly assisted sanctioned Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in complex financial networks, including two Cypriots.

OPAC said that it is further curbing Russia’s access to the international financial system through facilitators and their businesses, announcing a list of individuals and entities that would be subject to sanctions, which included Cypriot nationals and businesses.

In a press release, the US Department of the Treasury said that the United States, in coordination with the United Kingdom, “is targeting the facilitation network of Alisher Usmanov, who is subject to sanctions in multiple jurisdictions”.

It added, "Today’s action also includes designations to reinforce existing measures and further disrupt Russia’s importation of critical technologies used in its war against Ukraine. In total, OFAC is designating 25 individuals and 29 entities with touchpoints in 20 jurisdictions".

OFAC said the US Department of State was concurrently designating several entities operating in the defence sector of the Russian Federation economy and entities supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as additional entities associated with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom). Additionally, the US Department of Commerce will take concurrent action to add 28 entities to its Entity List, it said.

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office said in a press release that new sanctions announced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly target those who have knowingly assisted sanctioned Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in complex financial networks.

It said that UK experts have uncovered their financial networks – tracing those responsible for facilitating the activity and sanctioning them directly with asset freezes, travel bans, transport sanctions, and trust services sanctions.

Among those sanctioned are two "Cypriot professional enablers supporting major Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov", it said.