The United States Treasury has added eight individuals and seven organisations linked to Russia and Finland to its specially designated nationals list, according to the latest release on the official website.
Of the eight sanctioned persons, seven are Russian nationals, while one individual has Finnish citizenship.
The companies that came under sanctions include Acex OY, GCH Finland OY, Optima Freight OY, and Unicum Trade OY. They are all registered in Finland at the same address.
Two companies - NPP PT Okeanos, AO and M Finans - are registered in St Petersburg. The other organisation, Lobaye Invest, has its legal address in the Central African Republic. In October, CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera said that the Russian mining company Lobaye Invest was working in line with Central African Republic laws concerning foreign businesses in the country.
According to the list update, the introduced sanctions fall under "Cyber-related Designations; Foreign Interference in U.S. Election Designations; Ukraine-/Russia-related Designations" in the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals List.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took further action against the network of Kremlin-connected Russian operative Yevgeniy Prigozhin (Prigozhin), by targeting entities and individuals working on behalf of Prigozhin to advance Russia’s influence in the Central African Republic (CAR). Concurrently, OFAC is targeting those that have supported the Russian Federal Security Service directly, as well as those that assist persons helping designated Russian actors to evade US sanctions," the Treasury said in a statement.
The United States has been accusing Russia of meddling in its political processes, in particular, during the 2016 presidential election. Moscow has consistently denied the allegation, demanding for it to come with facts to be valid.
