Australia expands anti-Russian sanctions, targets Natl Wealth Fund

MOSCOW/TOKYO, Mar 18 (PRIME) -- Australia has decided to expand the anti-Russian sanctions by including 11 more banks and state-controlled entities, including the National Wealth Fund and the Finance Ministry, due to the Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Friday.

Taking into account the recent inclusion of the central bank into the blacklists, the Australian sanctions now cover all the government bodies of Russia that are responsible for issuing or maintaining the sovereign debt, she said.

Besides that, Australia has sanctioned Sberbank, Gazprombank, VEB.RF, VTB Bank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Alfa-Bank, and Credit Bank of Moscow, which account for 80% of the combined amount of assets of the Russian banking sector, she said.

Australia has also expanded the blacklist of Russian oligarchs that it thinks are close to President Vladimir Putin by including 41 tycoons and members of their families, including billionaires Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg.

JAPANESE SANCTIONS

The Foreign Ministry of Japan has decided to slap sanctions on 15 Russians and nine legal entities from the country, including Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and railway equipment and tank producer Uralvagonzavod, as seen by PRIME in the authority’s statement.

Besides Zakharova, the blacklist now includes deputy defense ministers Yunus Bek-Yevkurov, Alexei Krivoruchko, Timur Ivanov, Dmitry Bulgakov, Yury Sadovenko, Nikolai Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, and Gennady Zhidko, as well as the federal service for military and technical cooperation CEO Dmitry Shugayev, the General Staff's Main Intelligence Department Head Igor Kostyukov, weapon exporter Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev, tycoon and Senator Suleiman Kerimov, State Duma Deputy Andrei Skoch, and Marina Sechina, the ex-wife of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

The sanction list of companies comprises weapon exporter Rosoboronexport, Russian Helicopters, jet fuel seller Rosneft Aero, defense company High Precision Systems, military machine producer Kurganmashzavod, and shipyard Zelenodolsk Plant Named After A.M.Gorky in addition to Uralvagonzavod.

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