US sanctions Cypriot shipping companies
Three Limassol-based shipping companies were sanctioned by the US on Friday, on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The latest round of sanctions were described as the “largest number of sanctions imposed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine” which follows the death of Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The Cyprus-registered companies are Azoria Shipping Company Limited, Elixon Shipping Company Limited and Glorina Shipping Company Limited, which are active in sea and coastal freight water transport.
Limassol links
According to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the three companies are registered at Karaiskaki, 13, Limassol, which is the address for the Chrysses Demetriades law firm.
Director for all three companies is Vladimir Oskirko. The secretary is Cyproservus Co. Limited.
Reports link Oskirko to Russias leading shipping company Sovcomflot, which was hit by EU and UK sanctions, as well as US financial restrictions.
The sanctions target “those involved in supporting Russian future energy revenue sources, maintaining Russia’s capacity to wage its war of aggression, and facilitating sanctions evasion and circumvention,” OFAC said.
Hundreds of targets
In total, the US Department of State designated three Russian government officials in connection with Navalny’s death, and together with OFAC, over 500 targets were sanctioned.
The aim is “to impose additional costs for Russia’s repression, human rights abuses, and aggression against Ukraine.” The Department of Commerce was also adding more than 90 companies to the sanctioned entity list, OFAC underlined.
Earlier this week, Cyprus’ foreign minister said the government supports the 13th package of sanctions against Russia.
Ongoing investigations
A series of sanctions and international investigations in the past year revealed Cypriot individuals and companies were “financial fixers” for Russian oligarchs.
US experts including from the FBI are collaborating with Cyprus’ authorities on the matter, though the attorney general told MPs sanctions evaders may be ‘difficult to convict’.
Amid complaints that investigations are taking too long, Cypriot MEPs said the country been dragged through the mud during a European Parliament plenary session.
This followed a slew of revelations by the Cyprus Confidential reports, linking the island to aiding money laundering and sanctions evasions.
Published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), they reported staff at PwC Cyprus hurried to restructure companies belonging to Russian oligarchs as the prospect of sanctions loomed.
According to the finance ministry, Cyprus should have a national financial sanctions implementation unit by the end of the year, bringing the country up to speed with best practices in combating illicit finance.
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