US aims sanctions at yacht firm for Russians

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government leveled sanctions against a yacht management company and its owners, describing them as part of a corrupt system that allows Russian elites and President Vladimir Putin to enrich themselves, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.

Imperial Yachts, which is based in Monaco and controlled by the Moscowborn Evgeniy Kochman, caters to Russian oligarchs. The Treasury Department said Kochman and his company provide yacht-related services to “Russia’s elites, including those in President Putin’s inner circle.”

Imperial Yachts, Treasury said, conducts business with at least one sanctioned person.

The department also announced sanctions against four Russian government officials and Yury Slyusar, the president of a Russian-state owned company that supplies aircraft to Russia’s military.

The State Department separately imposed sanctions on Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian minister of foreign affairs, and Alexei Mordashov, a Russian billionaire. The Commerce Department announced that it was adding 71 organizations to its entities list, in an attempt to block Russia’s military from importing key technology.

Also put under sanctions is Sergei Roldugin, a Russian cellist and a longtime friend of Putin’s, described by the Treasury Department as “a custodian of President Putin’s offshore wealth.” Roldugin was added to the European Union’s sanctions list in late February, days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has been described as “Putin’s wallet.”

Kochman and Imperial Yachts were the focus of an investigation showing that the company was at the heart of what is essentially an oligarch-industrial complex, a network of companies including German shipbuilders, French designers, Italian high-end carpenters and Spanish marinas that serve Russian oligarchs and employ thousands of skilled workers.