WASHINGTON, June 28. /TASS/. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Russian citizen Andrey Ivanov and four legal entities that, according to Washington, are allegedly associated with Wagner PMC founder Evgeny Prigozhin.

The black list included Midas Ressources and Diamville Sau, Industrial Resources General Trading. According to the US authorities, these legal entities participated in illegal gold transactions in order to finance the Wagner group, and the Russian citizen who fell under the restrictions allegedly played a central role in the activities of the Wagner group units in Mali.

"Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four companies and one individual connected to the violent Russian military group PMC Wagner (Wagner Group) and its founder and owner Yevgeniy Prigozhin, previously sanctioned by the United States, the European Union (EU), Canada, and the United Kingdom (U.K.). The Wagner Group exploits insecurity around the world, committing atrocities and criminal acts that threaten the safety, good governance, prosperity, and human rights of nations, as well as exploiting their natural resources. The targeted entities in the Central African Republic (CAR), United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia have engaged in illicit gold dealings to fund the Wagner Group to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa, while the targeted individual has been central to activities of Wagner Group units in Mali," the statement said.

"Treasury’s sanctions disrupt key actors in the Wagner Group’s financial network and international structure," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said. "The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali. The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else."