The EU has added three people and nine companies to its sanctions list over alleged efforts to import banned goods into Russia and to bypass restrictions linked to oil and financial transactions.
Those newly listed include Russia-based cargo delivery company MOVERS GROUP LLC and its general director, Dmitry Chudovsky, for involvement in so-called parallel imports of goods covered by EU restrictive measures, the Council of the EU announced on Thursday.
The Council also sanctioned Russian customs broker and logistics operator LLC DT INIER and its majority shareholder, Ivanna Savchuk, alongside two trade firms based in Turkey— BEGLER TEKSTIL INSAAT ELEKTRONIK VE DIS TICARET LTD and MEDSE GROUP LLC — which it said were part of decentralised sanctions circumvention schemes.
United Stream LLC, a financial services company registered in Russia, was listed along with its founder and director Svetlana Gumenyuk, with the EU saying the firm acted as a payment agent and intermediary that facilitated the import of sanctioned EU goods.
Oil and “shadow fleet” listings
Several of the new listings target the circumvention of EU oil-related sanctions through companies based in the United Arab Emirates, India and the Seychelles, including DIS Logistics DMCC, Vigor Marine Services LLP and SHIVA SHIPPING LTD, which the Council said were part of a “shadow fleet ecosystem”.
The EU also sanctioned HURUS TRADE FZE, described as a trading intermediary supplying Russian-origin crude oil to India.
People and companies listed under this sanctions regime are subject to an asset freeze — meaning any assets held in the EU must be frozen — and EU individuals and businesses are prohibited from making funds or economic resources available to them, directly or indirectly.
A travel ban to the EU also applies to the individuals listed.
“Circumventing EU sanctions is akin to aiding and abetting Russia’s illegal war of aggression,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in the statement issued by the Council.
