2024-04-04 04:19:32
“Hetq” wrote: “On February 23, 2024, Washington announced the introduction of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions. More than 500 individuals and legal entities are included in the package. It is noteworthy that the adoption of this package is due to the second year of the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the death of the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
The restrictions were jointly imposed by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the US Department of State.
In connection with Navalny’s death, the State Department imposed restrictions on “three Russian government officials.”
The US Treasury emphasized that the restrictions apply to companies in the Russian financial sector, companies in Europe, East and Central Asia and the Middle East that help circumvent the sanctions regime. Hundreds of companies related to the Russian military industry also appeared on the list of restrictions.
With sanctions, the USA restricts the entry of the mentioned companies and persons to the USA, financial and other various transactions, economic relations, trade circulation, etc. In other words, they “freeze” ties with the mentioned companies and individuals, trying to limit their activities, the possibility of supporting the Russian military industry in any way, and to hit Russia economically.
The Russian mining company “Geopromining” LLC (OOO ГЕОПРОМАЙНИН) was also included in this new package of sanctions.
The Armenian assets of the Russian “Geopromining” group of companies are “Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC, “Geopromining Gold” LLC, which operates the Sotki gold mine and the Ararat gold extraction factory, as well as “Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC.
In response to the question of how these sanctions can affect the Armenian assets of the “Geopromining” group of companies, Ruzanna Grigoryan, representative of the Armenian “Geopromining Gold” company, asked to send a written letter to the group’s president, Roman Khudoli. We will publish the answer to the survey as soon as we receive it.
The son of Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko, Gleb Trotsenko, was a shareholder of both “Geopromining Gold” LLC and “Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC (ZPMK) until October 2023.
Both the company owned by Roman Trotsenko and Gleb Trotsenko came under US sanctions at the end of 2023. After that, Gleb Trotsenko left the list of shareholders of “Geopromining Gold” LLC and ZPMK.
In both companies, Gleb Trotsenko was replaced by a person related to the Trotsenkos, Russian citizen Svetlana Yershova.
It was assumed that this move was due to the sanctions factor. Trotsenko withdrew from Armenian assets so that these companies would not suffer from sanctions.
This time, however, Russian “Geopromining”, which owns Armenian assets, is under sanctions.
ZPMK’s new shareholders and its ties to another sanctioned company, AEON Mining
In addition to “Geopromining”, the name of another company connected to Trotsenko appeared in the new list of sanctions. We are talking about the AEON Mining company. According to Russian sources, the company is part of Roman Trotsenko’s business empire. Trotsenko owned the AEON infrastructure corporation with the same name. By the end of 2023, Roman Trotsenko sold 69% of AEON Corporation, the buyers of which are two persons occupying high positions in the same corporation. In particular, no information was found about the change of shareholders of AEON Mining.
Svetlana Yershova, who now owns shares in Geopromining Gold and Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, holds high positions in many companies owned by or affiliated with the Trotsenkos. In some companies, he also acts as an owner.
According to the Russian “Vedomosti” periodical, as of 2019, Svetlana Yershova owned 99.01% of the well-known “Profi” company in Roman Trotsenko’s businesses.
The director of legal affairs of AEON Corporation (Общество с огранительной относовыею Инфраструктуранная корпорация “АЕОН”) is among the positions held jointly in the last five years. This is evidenced not only by reports, but also by numerous articles in the Russian press.