US sanctions four Russians on investment conglomerate’s board

The Biden administration on Friday announced sanctions against four Russians on the supervisory board of a financial and investment conglomerate based in Moscow.

The U.S. said it was sanctioning Petr Olegovich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev.

The administration said all of the individuals have served on the supervisory board of the Alfa Group Consortium, which describes itself as one of the largest financial investment conglomerates in Russia. Fridman is a co-founder of the group.

The departments of Treasury and State announced additional sanctions against a Russian business organization involved in Russia’s tech sector that the U.S. said was involved in Russia’s response to previous sections imposed after it invaded Ukraine.

“The United States will continue to take all appropriate action to hold accountable those who enable and profit from Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo echoed that “[w]ealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people.”

“Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those enabling the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Adeyemo added in a statement. 

The Treasury Department noted that the four Russians had already been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and the U.K.

It said due to the sanctions, “all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported” to Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

“In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked,” the Treasury announcement reads. “All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt.”