US, EU, UK Sanctions Officials Talk Russian Evasion Tactics in Kazakhstan
Senior export control and sanctions officials with the U.S., the EU and the U.K. traveled to Kazakhstan this week to discuss countering Russia’s attempts at sanctions evasion, the Treasury Department said. The group -- which included Elizabeth Rosenberg, Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, and Matt Axelrod, the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export enforcement -- met with government officials in the country, along with businesses, to share information and “offer assistance to help facilitate compliance,” Treasury said.
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The agency said Axelrod “stressed the urgency of preventing Russia from evading coalition export restrictions by transshipping such items through Kazakhstan.” He also “shared the importance to Russia” of specific semiconductors and other integrated circuits it can use to power its missiles and drones. Treasury said Rosenberg “outlined sanctions evasion typologies in the financial sector.”
Rosenberg told reporters in Kazakhstan that Moscow is looking for international businesses to partner with and is creating shell companies to hide its behavior. “There is a clear choice at hand for businesses: they can keep their ties to the world’s most important markets, or they can be active participants in the Russian war effort by facilitating, or turning a blind eye to, supplies heading to the battlefield,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg and Axelrod were joined on the trip by David O’Sullivan, an EU sanctions envoy, and David Reed, the U.K.’s sanctions director.