The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on four Central Asian companies, accusing them of supplying machine tools and dual-use equipment to Russia through China, in defiance of U.S. regulations aimed at preventing support for Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
The sanctioned entities—one each from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and two from Uzbekistan—are part of a group of 275 businesses and individuals added to the U.S. sanctions list at the end of October. The Treasury Department detailed what it termed the “Ushko Machine Tools Procurement Scheme,” in which Almaty-based Kazstanex and Tashkent-based Uzstanex obtained machine tools from Europe. These tools were then shipped to Shanghai Winsun Co. in China and subsequently redirected to Russia’s Open Systems Development Technology.
Russian nationals Sergey Ushko, Alexander Ushko, Igor Khomenko, and Tatyana Khomenko were identified as coordinating these deliveries, and all individuals and companies involved in the scheme are now sanctioned by the United States.
Central Asia has long been seen as a conduit used by Russia to evade sanctions. The Russia-Ukraine war has forced Central Asian leaders to walk a fine line as they find themselves caught in the middle of a great-power struggle and strive to keep the opposing sides, Russia and China on the one hand, the United States and European Union on the other, content. Kazakhstan, for example, officially adheres to Western trade sanctions imposed on Russia. But numerous reports of sanctions-busting behavior by entities based in Kazakhstan, as well as elsewhere in Central Asia, have been documented.
However, these sanctions alone are not enough to end the conflict. World leaders must intensify their efforts to fully restrict resources flowing into Russia’s war machine and work together to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
