US Treasury experts will persuade companies in Europe to leave the Russian market

US Officials to share intelligence on sanctions evaders in Europe. Senior U.S. Treasury Department officials dealing with sanctions are planning international trips this month to pressure companies and countries that still do business with Russia to cut off those financial ties because of Russia’s war against Ukraine. This was reported by the Associated Press.

On 7 April, Treasury officials announced that two sanctions and terrorist financing specialists, Liz Rosenberg and Brian Nelson, will travel to Europe to share intelligence on sanctions evaders and warn of possible penalties for non-compliance with international measures.

In early March, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Justice was hiring 25 new prosecutors to investigate sanctions and export control evasion against Russia. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Matt Olsen, the prosecutors will work with corporations to investigate cases of circumvention of restrictions. If violations are found, the new DOJ officials will be able to open criminal cases against the companies.

According to the Eurostat, in the first nine months of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the volume of goods supplied by the European Union to Russia fell by 47%. At the same time, European exports to Russia’s neighbouring countries, primarily Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, increased by 48%. Sales to the CIS countries increased in all EU countries except Sweden and Malta.

As reported, on 7 April, US President Joe Biden extended for one year a series of sanctions against Russia imposed over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.