Page 15 - Us Sanctions

US hits prominent Turkish biz executive with Iranian oil sanctions

The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on a prominent Turkish businessman reportedly close to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for violations of US restrictions on the sales of Iranian oil. The Treasury Department announced Thursday it was penalizing Sitki Ayan and a number of companies he and his family and associates control for facilitating the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian oil for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Ayan and his firms have also laundered the proceeds of those sales for both the Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, both of which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US, Treasury said. The sanctions include a freeze on any assets Ayan or the targeted companies may have in US jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing any business with them. Ayan's companies have established international sales contracts for Iranian oil with foreign purchasers, arranged shipments of oil, and helped launder the proceeds, obscuring t

OPEC, allied producers' targets remain same amid sanctions against Russia

The Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel and allied producers, including Russia, did not change their targets for shipping oil to the global economy amid uncertainty about the impact of new Western sanctions against Russia that could take significant amounts of oil off the market. The decision at a meeting of oil ministers Sunday comes a day ahead of the planned start of two measures aimed at hitting Russia's oil earnings in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Those are: a European Union boycott of most Russian oil and a price cap of USD 60 per barrel on Russian exports imposed by the EU and the Group of Seven democracies. It is not yet clear how much Russian oil the two sanctions measures could take off the global market, which would tighten supply and drive up prices. The world's No. 2 oil producer has been able to reroute much, but not all, of its former Europe shipments to customers in India, China and Turkey. The impact of the price cap is also up in the air because Russia has said it ..

'Russia's Google' Yandex to relocate amid mounting impact of sanctions

Yandex is aiming to move its new technologies outside Russia and sell established businesses, including internet browsers, food delivery apps, and tax-hailing apps

US imposes sanctions on non-Russians linked to military suppliers

The U.S. said Monday it was imposing sanctions on a list of people and firms around the globe that it alleged are involved in supporting Russia's military as it wages war on Ukraine. Unlike recent packages of sanctions imposed on Russia-based firms and people, the latest financial and diplomatic penalties are aimed at a range of entities including French real estate companies, a group of Swiss nationals and a Taiwanese microelectronic component purchaser. They are all accused of being financial facilitators or enablers of Russia's military supply chain, which U.S. officials committed to disrupting after the invasion of Ukraine began in February. Businesses worldwide are advised to do their due diligence in order to avoid being targeted for sanctions," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. He said the U.S. will continue to crack down on Russia's attempts to evade international sanctions to fund its war machine. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Cont

Thousands of Iranians died of Covid-19 due to US sanctions: Official

The sanctions, preventing Iran from transferring money through financial channels, made it difficult for the country to import Covid-19 vaccines and the necessary medicine during that period

US expands sanctions on Myanmar, North Korea's aviation, defence sectors

The Biden administration is expanding sanctions against the aviation and defense sectors of North Korea and Myanmar as it continues to punish the two countries for weapons-related violations of US and United Nations regulations and human rights abuses. The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it had imposed penalties on two agents for North Korea's state-owned airline Air Koryo and redesignated a previously sanctioned North Korean cyber agency that it said launders profits from cryptocurrency heists to further Pyongyang's weapons programs. Treasury also announced sanctions against the Myanmar aviation firm Sky Aviator Company Limited and its owner for facilitating weapons purchases for the country's military government to crackdown on protesters following a February 2021 coup. North Korean agents Ri Sok, an Air Koryo representative based in China, and Yan Zhihong, an airline logistics manager, were targeted with sanctions for their support for for North Korea's nuclear weapons

The integrated circuit wars

US chip sanctions on China should be a wake-up call for India to quickly scale up and boost its capabilities in this critical arena

Iran calls for expanding trade with Belarus to counter Western sanctions

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said that Iran's expansion of economic and trade ties with Belarus can help minimise the impact of sanctions

Large Indian lenders shun direct rupee transactions in Russia trade: Report

Large Indian lenders are reluctant to process direct rupee trade transactions with Russia months after the mechanism was put in place for fear of becoming the target of sanctions by the United States

US looking to ease sanctions on Venezuela to boost oil supply: Report

The deal may be announced by the end of October and will allow US oil companies to drill oil in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro will hold a free, fair presidential elections in 2024 in return

Iran may drain offshore crude oil cache if nuclear agreement reached

About 93 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate are currently stored on vessels in the Persian Gulf, off Singapore and near China

Six months into war, Russian goods continues to flow to US amid sanctions

On a hot, humid East Coast day this summer, a massive container ship pulled into the Port of Baltimore loaded with sheets of plywood, aluminum rods and radioactive material all sourced from the fields, forests and factories of Russia. President Joe Biden promised to inflict pain and deal a crushing blow on Vladimir Putin through trade restrictions on commodities like vodka, diamonds and gasoline in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine six months ago. But hundreds of other types of unsanctioned goods worth billions of dollars, including those found on the ship bound for Baltimore from St. Petersburg, Russia, continue to flow into US ports. The Associated Press found more than 3,600 shipments of wood, metals, rubber and other goods have arrived at US ports from Russia since it began launching missiles and airstrikes into its neighbor in February. That's a significant drop from the same period in 2021 when about 6,000 shipments arrived, but it still adds up to more than $1 billion

No evidence of Indian companies bypassing Russian sanctions: US official

The US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo on Wednesday said there is "no evidence" of Indian companies circumventing the sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "I've seen no evidence of Indian companies circumventing sanctions that have been placed on Russia," Adeyemo told reporters during a visit to IIT-Bombay here. He added that companies around the world, including those in India, the US and Europe, are taking the sanctions seriously and implementing them as well. The remarks come days after reports quoted RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra saying that the US is concerned over India being used to export fuel made from Russian crude in violation of sanctions imposed by Washington. According to Patra, transfers of Russian crude are taking place on the high seas and the ships come to a port in Gujarat, where the oil is refined and shipped on. Adeyemo also said that the coalition of the sanctions is broadening, with many countries joining. The Treasury ..

In a first, India buys discounted Venezuelan petcoke to replace coal

Indian companies are importing significant volumes of petroleum coke from Venezuela for the first time, trade sources and shipping data show, as the OPEC nation boosts exports

Russia wants payment messaging system to align, but Indian banks wary

If the messaging platforms of India and Russia are connected, it might help in improving the payments settlement mechanism and provide Russia with a cover from further sanctions

China's largest chipmaker warns of rapid freeze as smartphone demand skids

China's largest chipmaker reported revenue rose 42% to $1.9 billion in the second quarter, generally in line with expectations

Crypto mixer Tornado's accounts disabled after US sanctions: Report

Tornado Cash allowed users to obfuscate their crypto transactions; the Treasury alleged that North Korean hackers and other entities had relied on it to launder illicit gains totaling more than $7 bn

Where did all Russian oligarchs' superyachts with sanctioned assets go?

Boats linked to Russian oligarchs not known for their discretion have gone "dark" and sailed to friendlier shores like Dubai or Turkey, keen to escape the fate of over $30 billion sanctioned assets

Putin's rumoured girlfriend, Russian elites hit with US sanctions

A new round of US sanctions targeting Russian elites includes a woman named in news reports as Vladimir Putin's longtime romantic partner.

Ukraine conflict: Putin's rumoured girlfriend hit with latest US sanctions

The Treasury Department said Tuesday that government has frozen the visa of Alina Kabaeva, an Olympic gymnast in her youth and former member of the state Duma, and imposed other property restrictions