Cyprus-based companies hit in latest US sanctions package

Four Cyprus-based companies and one individual were hit by US sanctions for being complicit in furthering Russia’s war against Ukraine, it emerged on Wednesday.

A statement by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) named the Nicosia-registered companies Azia Shipping Holdings Limited, Fortiana Holdings Limited, Ibex Shipping Inc and Stanmix Holding Limited, on its list of over 100 sanctioned entities.

Fomer Diko MP Stelios Ieronymides is named as the secretary of Azia shipping, while his law firm is listed as the director.

The mining and shipping-related companies are part of the latest US sanctions package, targeting those engaged in sanctions evasion and bolstering Russia’s energy production.

Fortiana and Stanmix are linked to Vladislav Vladimirovich Sviblov, a Russian businessman, developer and major shareholder of a number of mining and ore assets in Russia. He was also sanctioned by the UK.

Ilya Borisovich Brodskiy, a Russian national with a Cypriot passport, was also sanctioned. He is linked to Open Joint Stock Company Sovcombank, which was designated by the US last year.

Sovcombank was listed as the third largest privately owned financial institution in Russia by total assets, and Russia’s ninth largest bank overall.

The latest sanctions underscore “Russia’s utilisation of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the People’s Republic of China, as well as the use of complex transnational networks and third-country cut-outs, to acquire much-needed technology and equipment for its war economy,” OFAC said.

Earlier this month, OFAC sanctioned three companies registered in Cyprus, linked to Belgian business interests.

Cyprus has been hit with a slew of sanctions this year, with a team of experts from the US deployed to the island to assist authorities in their investigations. Their role will be to advise police with expert know-how and technical assistance, Cyprus’ police said, stressing the US team will not be involved individual cases.

The country’s attorney general told deputies it may be difficult to convict sanctions evaders, but pledged authorities would carry out a thorough investigation, particularly after the Cyprus Confidential revelations.

The global investigation published last month reported financial enablers in Cyprus — including accounting powerhouse PwC — scrambled to keep Russian allies a step ahead of looming sanctions.

The findings by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reported that leaked documents showed staff at PwC Cyprus hurried to restructure companies belonging to Russian oligarchs as the prospect of sanctions loomed.

Russian oligarchs utilised Cypriot companies to transfer funds ahead of the looming EU sanctions after the war on Ukraine, the report highlighted.

The findings led to the EU Commission and members of the EU parliament stressing they would be closely monitoring the fate of the investigations, decrying how Cyprus “rushed to help Russia after the sanctions… (and was) complicit.”