Treasury ratchets up Russian sanctions

The Office of Foreign Assets Control takes aim at Russians connected to human rights violations in Crimea.    The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed additional sanctions in response to Russia’s activities in Crimea.
   The latest round of sanctions specifically target Russians who have participated in human rights abuses in Crimea, including their respective business ties in the region. Imposition of these recent sanctions is authorized under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
   The Crimea-related actions also reinforce the July 25 Crimea Declaration stating that the United States does not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and use of force in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
    One of the Russian businesses was designated by OFAC pursuant to White House Executive Order 13661 for being owned or controlled by the Bank Rossiya and Yuri Valentinovich Kovalchuk. 
   “Our sanctions are a clear reminder that efforts seeking to normalize investment and economic relationships with those operating in Crimea will not be tolerated and are subject to U.S. and EU sanctions authorities,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.  
    As a result of OFAC’s action, all property or interests in property of the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. 
   In addition to Bank Rossiya and Yuri Valentinovich Kovalchuk, others added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List are Russian Federal Security Service officer Andriy Volodymyrovych Sushko, the Ministry of State Security of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Aleksandr Basov, Mriya Resort and Spa, Limited Liability Company Garant-SV, Limited Liability Company Infrastructure Projects Management Company (LLC UKIP), Joint Stock Company Sanatorium AY-Petri, Joint Stock Company Sanatorium, Joint Stock Company Sanatorium Miskhor, the Russian-backed electric power provider in the Crimea, KRYMTETS, AO, and Limited Liability Company Southern Project.