David O'Sullivan reported that two Kazakh companies have been added to the sanctions list.
“Kazakh companies were also identified during such checks, but I want to emphasize that they were included on the list solely because they were involved in illegal trade and facilitated, as we had evidence that they support and assist the Russian military-industrial complex. This was done to ensure compliance with the sanctions we imposed,” he noted.
He also added that not only in Kazakhstan but worldwide, after Russia's full-scale invasion, fake shell companies with the sole purpose of circumventing sanctions have emerged.
“If companies were not active before the imposition of sanctions and prior to the invasion, if they were not well-known and only entered the market after the sanctions and invasion – this is an indicator that they might be involved in illegal trade. But that is not enough. We conduct a detailed analysis of the company, examine their trade relationships. We check the goods they were trading before. In other words, a systematic analysis is conducted. And, of course, we prefer to work with governments to find solutions at a systemic level, rather than just adding individual companies to the list. However, when there is no other option, we add them,” he explained the verification mechanisms and added: “In third countries, we identify companies that are actively involved in the illegal trade of sanctioned goods, meaning they illegally sell sanctioned goods to Russia. Upon identifying such companies, we immediately add them to the list. This also means that European companies will not be able to do business with such companies in third countries.”
It is noted that such companies are being identified worldwide, for instance, in Iran, China, India, and other countries.