US sanctions firm allegedly providing jet fuel to Russia in Syria

WASHINGTON, Sep 26 (PRIME) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on a company, three Russian residents and five ships allegedly participating in a scheme to provide jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, the authority said on Thursday.

“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated one entity, three individuals, and five vessels participating in a sanctions evasion scheme to facilitate the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces operating in Syria,” the statement read.

The list includes Maritime Assistance, which is said to be a front company supporting the U.S-sanctioned company Sovfracht, and five vessels as blocked property of Transpetrochart, a Russian company designated by OFAC in December 2016 for providing material support to Sovfracht, the department said.

The three individuals were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in June 2018 as a result of the FBI’s investigation on charges of orchestration of the scheme. They are Ivan Okorokov, Director of Marine Transport Department at Sovfracht, Karen Stepanyan, First Deputy Director of Marine Transport Department at Sovfracht, and Ilya Loginov, Deputy General Director for Legal Support at Sovfracht.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told reporters that Moscow sees the new restrictions as “absolutely inadmissible.”

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