UPDATE: US OFAC blacklists affiliates of Russia’s Gazprom, Mostotrest

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WASHINGTON, Sep 1 (PRIME) -- The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department has put several affiliates of Russian gas giant Gazprom on the sanctions list, the authority said in a statement on Thursday.

Russian construction company Mostotrest was also one of the blacklisted.

Besides, the U.S. authority sanctioned 17 individuals deemed to be involved in the political tensions between Russia and Ukraine on the Russian side. The list includes eight ministers of the government of Crimea, heads of the Russian Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee.

The new sanctions were introduced due to the state of fulfillment of the Minsk agreements on peace in Ukraine and due to the situation in Crimea, OFAC said. The goal of the new measures is to “maintain the effectiveness of existing sanctions.”

“Today’s action is part of OFAC’s ongoing efforts to counter attempts to circumvent sanctions on Russia, to assist the private sector with sanctions compliance, and to foster a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine,” the authority said.

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