““Today’s actions undermine the Kremlin’s ability to circumvent our sanctions and gain access to the goods necessary to create weapons for the war in Ukraine” – Adeyemo”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“These actions target a sanctions evasion scheme established between entities in Russia and the People’s Republic of China to facilitate cross-border payments for sensitive goods. In addition, the US Treasury Department established a financial institution from the Kyrgyz Republic that coordinated its actions with Russian officials to implement a scheme to circumvent sanctions,” the post states.
“Today’s actions undermine the Kremlin’s ability to circumvent our sanctions and gain access to the goods it needs to build weapons for the war in Ukraine,” US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
The US State Department is said to be imposing sanctions on more than 150 entities and individuals under executive order 14024, including a wide range of Russian defense industry companies and those that support its military-industrial base. Today’s sanctions also cover dozens of companies in various countries that continue to support Russia’s efforts to circumvent US sanctions, including China, which remains the largest supplier of dual-use goods and facilitates sanctions evasion in support of Russia’s military efforts.
“Under the leadership of Russian officials, Russia and China are working to establish regional clearing platforms (RCPs) in both Russia and China that will act as counterparties for cross-border payments for sensitive goods. RCPs facilitate cashless mutual settlement for so-called sanctioned goods,” the US explains.
It is reported that participants in the scheme are Russian financial institutions that are on the US sanctions list: Public Joint-Stock Company “Sberbank of Russia”, JSC “Alfa-Bank”, Open Joint-Stock Company “Sovcombank”, T-Bank and Limited Liability Company “Bank Tochka” “.
Also, according to the US Treasury Department, at least since the summer of 2024, officials of JSC “Keremet Bank”, based in Kyrgyzstan, coordinated their actions with Russian officials and the Russian bank “Promsvyazbank”, included in the list of US sanctions, in order to implement a scheme to circumvent sanctions.
In 2024, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance is alleged to have sold a controlling stake in Keremet Bank to a firm closely associated with Russian-Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who has ties to the Russian government.
“The purchase of Keremet Bank was intended to create a hub for bypassing sanctions, through which Russia could pay for imports and receive payments for exports,” – according to the US.
On November 21, the United States introduced new sanctions against dozens of Russian banks, including Gazprombank. The sanctions prohibit the institution from making any new energy transactions involving the US financial system.