Andrey Guryev’s : Russian Billionaire Assets Blocked in Latest Sanctions
Andrey Guryev, a Russian billionaire businessman, is the former head of PhosAgro, one of the world’s largest phosphate-based fertilizer producers. With a net worth of $4.8 billion, Guryev acquired his wealth in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, acquiring state-owned assets at undervalued prices. In 2004, he acquired half of PhosAgro from Mikhail Khodorkovsky at a low price.
Treasury Sanctions Elites and Companies in Economic Sectors that Generate Substantial Revenue for the Russian Regime
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed a new round of sanctions on Kremlin-connected elites, a major multinational company, and a sanctions evasion operation. The sanctions were taken in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, which imposed additional sanctions on entities and individuals, as well as visa restrictions.
The actions impose severe costs for those who support President Vladimir Putin’s war. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen stated that the Treasury Department will use all available tools to hold Russian elites and Kremlin enablers accountable for their complicity in a war that has cost countless lives. The U.S. will continue to choke off revenue and equipment underpinning Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine.
Andrey Guryev ELITES CLOSE TO THE KREMLIN
Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev (A.G. Guryev) is a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former government official. He owns the Witanhurst estate in London and is the founder and former Deputy Chairman of PhosAgro, a leading Russian chemical company. Guryev has been designated for operating in the accounting and management consulting sectors of the Russian Federation economy by OFAC. Guryev has also been sanctioned by the United Kingdom.
OFAC identified Alfa Nero, a Cayman Islands flagged yacht that Guryev reportedly bought for $120 million in 2014, as blocked property of A.G. Guryev. A.A. Guryev, Guryev’s son, was also designated for operating in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy. Guryev is the 100% owner of Dzhi AI Invest OOO (DAI), an investment entity in Russia.
Viktor Filippovich Rashnikov, a Russian Federation national and businessman, is the majority owner and chairman of the Board of Directors of Publichnoe Aktsionernoe Obschestvo Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat (MMK). MMK and Rashnikov have been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland, and the UK. OFAC has also designated Investitsionnaya Kompaniya MMK-FINANS (MMK-FINANS) and MMK Metalurji Sanayi Ticaret Ve Liman Isletmeciligi Anonim Sirketi (MMK Metalurji), two subsidiaries of MMK.
The Treasury issued a Russia-related GL 47, authorizing transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to wind down any transaction involving MMK or any entity in which MMK owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest, through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, September 1, 2022.
Russia’s Elites
Alina Maratovna Kabaeva, a former member of the State Duma, has been designated for being a leader, official, senior executive officer, or board member of the Russian Federation’s government. She has a close relationship with Putin and is the current head of the National Media Group, a pro-Kremlin empire. Kabaeva has been sanctioned by the EU and the UK. Natalya Valeryevna Popova, the First Deputy Director of Non-State Development Institute Innopraktika, has been designated for operating in the Russian economy’s technology sector and being a spouse or adult child of Kirill Aleksandrovich Dmitriev.
SANCTIONS EVASION ATTEMPTS
Promising Industrial and Infrastructure Technologies (JSC PPIT), a financial institution owned by the Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management, has been designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFC) for its involvement in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy. The move was reportedly a way to circumvent sanctions imposed on the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). The transfer of assets and cash was seen as a viable method to evade restrictions on RDIF. Anton Sergeevich Urusov, General Director of JSC PPIT, was also designated for being a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of JSC PPIT, an entity whose property and interests are blocked under E.O. 14024.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
The action has blocked all property and interests owned by U.S. persons or in their possession or control, and entities owned by 50% or more by blocked persons. Transactions involving blocked persons’ property or interests are prohibited unless authorized by a license issued by OFAC or exempt. This includes making or providing contributions or services to or for blocked persons, as well as receiving such contributions or services.
Countries Imposed Sanction
| Date | Place of Sanctions |
| 06.04.2022 | UK |
| 02.08.2022 | USA |
| 27.01.2023 | Japan |
| 19.10.2022 | Ukraine |
| 12.10.2022 | New Zealand |
Reason For Imposing Sanctions
GURYEV has been involved in obtaining a benefit or supporting the Russian government through his directorship at PJSC PhosAgro, which he held from 2013 to 2022. He has done this by serving as an executive or non-executive director, trustee, or equivalent of an entity that conducts business in a sector that is strategically important to the Russian government—namely, the Russian chemicals sector.
