U.S. Sanctions Putin's Money Manager, Lavrov's Spokesperson, and Dozens Others Over Ukraine

The Biden Administration on Thursday announced the latest round of sanctions that targets more Russian oligarchs and elites, in addition to their relatives, and the yacht brokerages that cater to them, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Specifically, Washington designated God Nisanov, one of the richest men in Europe and a close associate of several Russian officials and Evgeny Novitskiy, a Russian elite with close ties to the Kremlin.

The new sanctions list also includes Sergei Roldugin, a concert cellist described by the U.S. as an associate and money manager of Vladimir Putin, and Roldugin’s family members.

Also on the list are Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian MFA, Sergey Gorkov, the head of RosGeo; and Alexey Mordashov, the head of Severgroup LLC, along with his wife and two adult children.

The EU, UK, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand have previously designated Zakharova. The State Department is designating Gorkov for his role in the Russian government as the head of RosGeo.

Four of Mordashov’s companies are also being designated, including: Severgroup, a multi-billion-dollar investment company operating in metallurgy, engineering, tourism, banking, technology, media and finance; Severstal, which is among Russia’s leading domestic steel producers; Algoritm, a Russian technology, media, and advertising company; and Nord Gold, which is a gold mining company with operations in Russia, Central Asia, Africa, South America, and North America.

The administration also said the new sanctions would cover yachts linked to Putin and Kremlin-aligned yacht brokerages including Imperial Yachts and its chief executive; government ministers who oversee sectors of the Russian economy; and the president of United Aircraft Corp., a state-owned company that supports the Russian defense industry.

In addition, the Department of Commerce is adding 71 parties in Russia and Belarus to the sanctions list in an effort to further restrict the Russian military’s ability to obtain "technologies and other items it needs to sustain its aggression and project power."

"The United States will continue to support the people of Ukraine while promoting accountability for President Putin and those enabling Russian aggression," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

State Department's spokesperson Ned Price, in his turn, told TURAN's Washington correspondent during the daily press briefing that with the financial sanctions and export controls that Washington has imposed on Russia, "we have had an enormous effect on the Russian economy, on the Russian financial system."

"We have isolated Russia diplomatically and politically in a way that no single designation could do. The cumulative toll of every measure we have put in place has been extraordinarily biting on the Russian economy, and if you take a look at the latest facts and figures, the World Bank projects that Russian GDP will contract by about 11 percent in 2022," Price said.

Inflation has been soaring, with analysts estimating that inflation above 20 percent for Russia in 2022.

"Our export controls have been biting. We are choking off Russia’s ability to access needed inputs for key strategic sectors – technology, energy, aerospace, defense – the types of sectors that Russia will need to continue to prosecute this war in Ukraine and to continue, for that matter, to potentially even threaten other neighbors" he added.

"So the cumulative effect of what we’ve done has really been quite tremendous," according to the spokesperson,

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.