US sanctions 2nd Russian subsidiary for Venezuela trade

ANKARA

The U.S. imposed sanctions on the second subsidiary of Russian energy firm Rosneft for allegedly helping to skirt sanctions on Venezuela.

"On March 12, the United States took action against another Russian oil brokerage firm helping to prop up the former Maduro regime by sanctioning TNK Trading International S.A. (TNK) for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy," U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in a statement on late Thursday.

Pompeo accused TNK Trading, a Switzerland-incorporated subsidiary, of directly involved in efforts to assist Rosneft Trading S.A. (RTSA) evade U.S. sanctions.

The sanctioning of Rosneft Trading S.A., a Switzerland-incorporated subsidiary that the State and Treasury departments said serves as an oil brokerage firm, came on Feb. 18 because it operates in Venezuela's oil sector, which the U.S. sanctioned in January 2019.

Rosneft Trading board chair and president Didier Casimiro was also designated. He serves as vice president for commerce within the larger Rosneft firm.

Pompeo stressed that TNK purchased nearly 14 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA in January 2020 alone.

He reiterated the U.S. will continue "to increase the pressure on [Venezuela's President Nicolas] Maduro and his enablers until freedom and prosperity are restored in Venezuela," urging the international community to join the U.S. in applying stronger pressure.

The South American nation has been under severe U.S. sanctions, economic and diplomatic, for more than a year as Washington recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate ruler instead of elected President Maduro.

Earlier this month, the Maduro administration denounced the U.S. before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the "crimes against humanity" committed by Washington with sanctions, saying "the unilateral coercive measures" are not only hitting country's economy but Venezuelans as well.

Since the beginning of 2019, Venezuela has been embroiled in political unrest as Maduro and Guaido engage in a power battle amid a dire economic crisis in the Latin American nation.