Share :

Download PDF :

Jamestown (25 May 2023)

Orkhan Baghirov

On April 12, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed more than 100 people and entities across over 20 countries on its sanctions list due to violations of US export controls in helping Russia with its war effort (Treasury.gov, April 12). Among the newly sanctioned entities included on the list was TAKO LLC, a company registered in Yerevan in May 2022 that is fully owned by a Russian national and specializes in the wholesale trade of electronic and telecommunications equipment (News.am, April 13). TAKO supplied electronic items to Russia’s defense industry through cooperation with Russian company Radioavtomatika, which was also sanctioned last year. According to OFAC, TAKO recently underwent a name change and was previously called TACO LLC, which had been sanctioned by the US back in September 2022 (Azernews, April 14). Along with TACO, now TAKO, Armenian-registered entities Areximbank-Gazprombank Group, VTB Bank Armenia, Bank Mellat, Flight Travel LLC and Milur Electronics LLC were also sanctioned in 2022 (Verelq.am, September 30, 2022).

Despite the fact that only a few Armenian companies, mostly owned by the Russian government or individuals, were subject to sanctions, Armenia’s role in helping Russia circumvent sanctions goes far beyond that. The unusual changes in Armenia’s trade statistics and in the level of economic relations with Russia after the start of Moscow’s war against Ukraine raise suspicions about Armenia’s role in re-exporting sanctioned products, including technological components, machinery and transportation equipment, to Russia.

Click for more