The Department of the Treasury has slapped sanctions on three entities that it said were tied to arms trading between Russia and North Korea.
In a notice issued on Wednesday, the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Limited Liability Company Verus, Versor S.R.O. and Defense Engineering Limited Liability Partnership pursuant to Executive Order 13551, which blocks the properties of persons determined to have supported North Korea’s arms deals. All three entities are owned or controlled by Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev, named to OFAC’s sanctioned entities list in March.
According to the Treasury, Mkrtychev facilitated talks between Russian and North Korean officials and organized an attempted transfer of weapons and munitions to Moscow.
Mkrtychev is the founder and owner of Verus, the president of Versor and the director of Defense Engineering.
“The United States continues to root out illicit financial networks that seek to channel support from North Korea to Russia’s war machine,” Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
Treasury has sanctioned hundreds of entities that support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.