Zelenskyy enacts sanctions against number of Wagner Group affiliated companies

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree that enacts sanctions of the National Defence and Security Council against 164 individuals and 85 legal entities, including those affiliated with the Wagner Group private military company.

Source: Decree on the website of the President’s Office

Details: Thus, the list of sanctioned legal entities includes M Invest company, controlled by founder of Wagner Group PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin. The US Treasury Department notes that this company serves as a cover for Wagner’s operations in Sudan. Meroe Gold Co company, a subsidiary of M Invest, and its managers, Andrei Mandel and Mikhail Potepkin, were also added to the list.  

The sanctions also targeted companies registered in Hong Kong, Shine Dragon Group Limited and Zhe Jiang Jiayi Small Commodities Trade Company Limited, which are also subject to US sanctions. In particular, according to the US Treasury Department, these companies, along with another company, helped the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, conduct transactions worth more than US$7.5 million in 2018-2019.

Among other Wagner and Prigozhin affiliated companies in the list: Chinese Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd and Sewa Security Services registered in the Central African Republic. As the US Treasury Department notes, the latest company is controlled directly by Wagner and provides bodyguard services to top officials of the Central African Republic.  

Another Wagner company that also operates in the CAR is the Officer’s Union for International Security. It was sanctioned along with its director, Alexander Ivanov.

In terms of personal sanctions, the list includes Prigozhin's daughters Veronika and Polina, as well as heads of legal entities that are classified as sanctioned by the same decree. For example, it concerns Igor Lavrenkov, who is a director of Shine Dragon Group Limited and responsible for relations with M Invest.

In addition, personal sanctions have been imposed on Konstantin Pikalov, one of Wagner's executives responsible for coordinating and planning mercenary operations in Africa. According to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, he also took part in hostilities against Ukraine in Donbas.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted three decisions of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) against Russians. 

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