By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The United States Treasury Department on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Central African Republic (CAR) companies linked to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group for illicit mining activities.
The group and the firms affected by the sanction had “established a vast security and business network” in CAR, Washington alleged.
Heritage Times HT recalls that the US had repeatedly accused Wagner of advancing what it described as Russia’s “malign activities” in the African country.
“This network has advanced Russia’s destabilizing activities at the expense of the Central African Republic’s sovereignty,” the department said in a statement.
Under the sanction, all property and interests of the companies that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of US persons, are blocked, the department added.
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The department further warned that financial institutions and other persons engaging in certain transactions or activities with the firms may expose themselves to sanctions.
One of the companies affected is a mining group which Washington says imported chemicals commonly used in mining, and leased aircraft that Wagner used to move personnel and equipment.
According to Washington, the other is a firm which received shipments of materials from a Russian entity linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin – the group’s founder who was killed in a plane crash last August.
Several companies across the world have attracted sanctions by the US over their alleged link to the Moscow-based mercenary group.
