The US Department of Treasury and the Department of State have announced more sanctions on about 400 companies and individuals that are believed to support the invasion of Ukraine and help Russia evade the ongoing sanctions with their products and services. Targeted companies and individuals are operating in Russia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Among the rest, Russia’s mining and steel companies are hit and this time the list includes a several coal companies, which is expected to put Russia’s coal exports under pressure.
“Guided by commitments made by President Biden and G7 leaders to reduce Russia’s revenues from metals, Treasury is targeting entities involved in Russia’s metals and mining sector, including steel, iron, and coal mining firms and auxiliary firms that provide specialized services to Russian metals and mining companies,” the statement read.
Accordingly, the Treasury has included the subsidiaries of Russian mining and steel producing company Evraz Group and the country’s largest steelmaker Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat (MMK) in the sanctions list. The subsidiaries of Evraz Group, which are operating in steel production and mining, are Evraz Kachkanarski Gorno Obogatitelny Kombinat, Evraz Nizhnetagilski Metallurgicheski Kombinat (NTMK), Evraz Obedinenny Zapadno Sibirski Metallurgicheski Kombinat, Evraz Vanadi Tula and Evraz Market.
The other miners and steelmakers on the list are Obyedinennaya Ugolnaya Kompaniya Yuzhkuzbassugol, GRK Bystrinskoe, Raspadskaya Ugolnaya Kompaniya, Shakhta Alardinskaya, Shakhta Esaulskaya and Raspadskaya.
According to market evaluations, the imposed sanctions, taking into account the number of the impacted companies, will put Russia’s steam and coking coal exports under a good deal of pressure. China, being the largest coal importer from Russia, is expected to continue buying, along with India. However, the market players expect potential issues with payments for coal imports, etc.
In addition, the sanctions are imposed against 131 intermediate companies from the UAE, Hong Kong, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China, which have been supplying Russia with microelectronics helping to bypass the earlier imposed sanctions.