New US warning to Turkey for circumventing sanctions against Russia

THE Elizabeth Rosenberg, Assistant US Secretary of the Treasury to combat the financing of terrorism, and Erik Woodhouse, US Deputy Secretary of State to fight terrorism, visited the Turkish Association of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and the Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEİK) on Monday to ask Turkish companies not to be involved in the circumvention of sanctions, SKAI correspondent reports in Constantinople, Manolis Kostidis.

“American banks and American companies want to make sure that the companies they do business with in Turkey are not involved in sanctions evasion, and we’re here to determine the current situation to help them make a decision,” Rosenberg said. These words were interpreted by the representatives of the private sector as “there may be companies that the US will impose sanctions on, we are trying to identify them”, in other words, as a “very strict warning”.

Sectoral activities were among the main issues the US delegation focused on. Officials drew particular attention to shipping, aviation, real estate and technology companies and asked companies operating in these sectors to be careful not to run afoul of the sanctions.

US officials, who appear to have a flexible view on the use of the Turkish lira and ruble in trade relations between Turkey and Russia, understood Turkey’s special situation but stressed the need to be cautious about the sanctions. TOBB officials also said that their group’s businesses are mostly small and medium-sized businesses and that it is difficult for them to get detailed information on sanctions.

According to information, at the meeting it was agreed to create a consultation and communication channel through which Turkish companies can receive detailed information about the sanctions. Also, a mechanism will be established to ensure that companies’ questions on the matter are collected and answered by the US Department of the Treasury.

Elizabeth Rosenberg, US Undersecretary of State, and Erik Woodhouse, US Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, also discussed the practice of “price ceilings” on oil purchases from Russia and suggested that Turkey could lower its energy costs by adopting a ceiling prices.

It is also planned to provide more information about the operation of this mechanism.

American officials they reportedly emphasized the importance of Turkish companies doing business with Russia, as well as Russian companies based in Turkey during the sanctions. The US is known to closely monitor the use of intermediary companies by sanctioned companies and individuals in Russia, i.e. oligarchs, to circumvent sanctions and calls these Russian-owned companies “front companies”. In the same context, the US has “serious” concerns that some companies that appear to have partnerships with Azerbaijan have been set up to circumvent sanctions.

Also due to the recent increase in the number of Russian companies established in Turkey, the US is closely monitoring Turkey in terms of “front companies”. While the number of newly established Russian companies in Turkey in previous years was around a hundred, the number of Russian companies established in the first 8 months of this year was 729.

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